(DTIS) Update, Volume 1 – Main report - Enhanced Integrated ...

Explaining the Segmentation of Markets for Professional Services – Trade Barriers and ImmigrationRegulation 105Burundi has a moderate services trade restrictiveness index. Trade barriers can limit competition andthe efficiency of professional service providers in Africa. Foreign entry restrictions include: (i)Restrictions on the movement of natural persons (nationality and residency requirements, quotas,economic needs test, limits on the length of stay, recognition of academic and professionalqualifications); (ii) Restrictions on the establishment of commercial presence (restrictions on foreignownership, limits on the type of legal entry, limits on the scope of business); (iii) Restrictions on crossborder trade (entry restrictions and limits on the scope of business); and (iv) Restrictions on labormobility (procedures for hiring a foreign worker). The Services Trade Restrictiveness Indices that takemeasure such restrictions reveal that Burundi is not more restrictive than most sub-Saharan Africancountries in accounting and legal services (Figures 6.7a and 6.7b).100806040200Figure 6.7a: Services TradeRestrictiveness Index in accountingRwandaMauritiusMozambiqueMalawiUgandaSouth AfricaTanzaniaZambiaBurundiBotswanaEthiopiaKenyaSource: World Bank (2012)100806040200Figure 6.7b: Services TradeRestrictiveness Index in legal servicesSource: World Bank (2012)Trade restrictions in professional services in Burundi include: nationality requirements to providecertain legal services, prohibitions to use the name of the parent company, requirements to employ acertain percentage of nationals and restrictions on the composition of management of foreignprofessional firms established in Burundi. Foreign degrees are recognized on an ad-hoc basis. Similarly,work permits are allocated and extended on a case by case basis.3.3. Recommendations for policy actionPolicy action is required to address the constraints to the development of professional services. Thenational markets for professionals and professional services in Burundi are underdeveloped, withperformance indicators below the averages of countries at a similar level of development. Inadequatedomestic regulations, combined with a lack of regional coordination among countries, further constrainforeign investment and Burundi’s integration with other Sub-Saharan African countries. These outcomesare the result of constraints that suggest policy action in the following areas: education, regulation ofprofessional services, trade policy, and labor mobility. International and regional cooperation (forexample, WTO, EAC and COMESA services negotiations) would ideally complement domestic policy105 Data on trade barriers come from the WB/DECTI Survey on Foreign Services Restrictions. Only accounting andlegal services are covered at this stage.127 / 153