Economic Policy

Microeconomic stability and a functioning financial system are fundamental to a country’s sustainable development. A reliable economic policy framework increases transparency, dependable foreign trade and economic growth in which the population as a whole can participate. Many countries are therefore working on developing clear guidelines for regulatory policy topics such as competition regulations, consumer protection, or the privatisation of state monopolies.

Most developing and transition countries have limited financial policy latitude for planned development inside their national borders. Fighting poverty without the financial means is, however, an impossible concept. These countries need solid and transparent sources revenue and expense policies and many must reform their management of public funds. Sound municipal fiscal policy is fundamental to counteracting inflation, thus stabilising the currency and reducing national debt. This also expands on a country’s scope for realising sensible development policy plans and projects.

Reform of monetary policy plays an equally important role in many states. This entails the reorientation of a nation’s trade policy and transparent regulation of the banking and financial sector. The appropriate democratically legitimate regulatory panels must be available to prevent corruption and money laundering, for example. Inwent works with cooperation partners to offer training seminars and dialogues designed to strengthen decision-making skills and responsibility with respect to economic and regulatory policy. We design our courses to address issues for employees from regulatory authorities in particular, such as the cartel offices, central banks and financial supervisory boards in our partner countries.

Inwent’s support of financial sector reform in India, the "Qualification of Training Institutions for Financial System Development India" programme, is one example. Employees at the NIBM (National Institute of Bank Management) training facility participate in professional training seminars that help them improve their range of advanced training courses for employees at India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian corporate banks. The programme seeks to answer key central questions: How can India’s banking world adjust to meet the challenges of globalisation? How can institutional risk management be optimised? What innovations does the liberalised financial market demand?

Support for small and medium-sized companies is an important step in sustainable development for the economies of developing and transition countries. Many of these countries have begun gearing their economies more strongly toward free-market principles. This often means that the government must limit its involvement to defining regulatory policy framework and creating conditions conducive to growth and employment for private companies. Nonetheless, the relationship between the state and the market needs constant adjustment. Inwent offers a discussion platform to support this process at which partner countries can present planned solutions and develop new approaches together.

The "Fiscal Policy Institutions and Macroeconomic Management" programme is just one example of how Inwent supports macroeconomic and regulatory policy reform. Here we work together with the Berlin School of Economics (FHW) and the University of Applied Sciences (FHTW) in Berlin. The programme is designed for all young professionals involved in finance in South Asia. Participants learn about modern macroeconomic decision models, in fiscal policy for example, in an 18-week course. They learn the skills they need to recognise the basic economic conditions for sustainable growth, weigh different economic policy options and act as information multipliers.

Inwent’s "Global Trade – New challenges for customs policy and administration" international leadership training programme addresses customs officials in the South African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC). Inwent helps officials acquire the skills they need to increase the efficiency of their work and prepares them to meet the modern challenges presented by global and regional trade. Inwent works closely with the University of Münster here, who grants a "Master of Customs Administration" to participants who successfully pass their exams.