Dialogue in Pursuit of Development - Are you looking for one of ...

formal (messages, representations) and informal (including social contacts).
It is clear that a donor with a wide range of engagements in the country’s
development can use many contact points for bringing home a point, including
technical and commercial co-operation projects. White’s conclusion
from a study of Swedish behaviour in eight recipient countries is that Sweden
rarely has a point to make in the multilateral policy dialogue and that
even if it had one, Sweden would not try to lead the discussion in a ‘progressive’
direction.
When the dialogue heats up, all the contact points of the multi-layered
networks of donor-recipient intercourse may get involved, through commercial,
political development co-operation relations. In some cases, a virtual
campaign has been mounted to persuade the government decision
makers and their entourage about the merits and demerits of debated policies.
In the capitals of small recipient economies, the donor networks are
very prominent, and the decision makers should be excused if sometimes
they feel surrounded by attackers who all pursue the same point. But an
informal discussion forum like a seminar or a social get-together offers more
space for genuine dialogue than the official meetings for negotiating a contract
or for the annual review in the aid coordination group. This approach is
increasingly being used both by IFIs and bilateral donors to engage recipients
in a more open and incisive discussion of difficult issues of development
policy.
Sida and its principals in the Swedish government have often become
involved behind the scene when major controversies between a partner
country and the IFIs begin to impact negatively on the macro environment
for development. The best-known example is the case of Tanzania during
the first half of the 80s, when the macro environment deteriorated precipitously
as the country’s political leadership got locked in a rather ideological
battle with IMF over price controls and the exchange rate. All the Nordic
countries tried to help in saving Tanzania (and their own development investments)
by giving technical assistance for examining the policy options.
The database as well as the collective experience on the Tanzanian side was
not sufficient for explaining what would happen if farm gate prices were
raised by a certain percentage or if the shilling was drastically devalued, as
required by IMF as a condition for the loan. A lot of effort went into these
studies without apparent results for several years. However, when the leadership
changed, these exercises had prepared Tanzania for managing a more
liberal trade regime.
An interesting example of a different kind is Vietnam, which in 1989–93
undertook some of the most dramatic and successful economic reforms ever
done by a ‘transition economy’. The most interesting dialogue in this case
was an internal dialogue which was conducted within the leadership – there
was no IFI that was ready to extend any loans to the country at that time.
The reforms were driven by a sharp sense of urgency, arising from economic
33