The_Open_Door_deel1

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concession agreements will be introduced ("Phase II"). During
this phase each five to seven years every concession agreement
will be reviewed in conformity with the then prevailing government
policy and in the light of new economic realities. To facilitate
this work, during Phase I there should be included in
every concession agreement a provision which obliges the concessionaire.,
,to submit reports regularly to the Liberian Government
on general or specific affairs as well as a provision
which will guarantee the company's collaboration with the Government
in any case that the latter deems useful. Failure to
comply with these obligations might eventually result in losing
the concession.
The institution which seems to be the most appropriate to execute
this task is the National Investment Commission, created
in 1979 after the merger of the Concession Secretariat of the
Finance Ministry, with the Liberian Development Corporation, a
public corporation.
Recommendations to Improve the Concession Policy
I. A uniform policy should be adopted for identical
operations, based on Model Concession Agreements
This, in fact, is not a completely new view since during the
early 1970's a Model Mining Concession Agreement and in the second
hald of the 1970's a Model Timber Concession Agreement had
been formulated. Moreover, the Firestone Concession Agreement of
1976 was to serve as a Model Concession Agreement which was meant
to be applied to the entire sector (rubber plantations). However,
the Model Concession Agreements with respect to the iron ore,
mining and the timber sectors were not always respected when
negotiating with individual potential investors. The resulting
idea of favouritism is difficult to explain or remove. In some
cases, it even arouses the suspicion of bribery and corruption.
The 1976 Firestone Concession Agreement never served as a Model
Agreement for the other foreign rubber producers as a result of
the opposition of the other major rubber concessionaires. This,
though, has created an ambiguous situation which is difficult to
explain from the point of view of the origin of all foreign investments
in Liberia: The Open Door Policy. This policy stands
for equal opportunities for all foreign investors and traders.
Actually, the Firestone Plantations Company is discriminated
against with respect to the other foreign rubber growers. To enjoy
the same advantages which its concession agreement permits
as well as the agreements held by the other owners of rubber
plantations, Firestone must pay a higher price than the other
foreign owned rubber plantation companies. If Liberia wants to
maintain its Open Door Policy, it must respect the "most favoured
company" principle. According to this principle, the most advantageous
conditions offered to one foreign investor also apply to
all other foreign investors with a valid concession agreement.