BUILDING A DIALOGUE BETWEEN PARLIAMENT AND ENTERPRISE
Parliamentarians are often accused of not understanding the business world. Enterprise and Parliamentary Dialogue International, which started as an idea for the British Parliament, now works globally to ensure that MPs and business people really do understand each other, says its Secretary General.
Mr Riki Hyde- Chambers, OBE, in
London.. Mr Hyde-Chambers has worked with Parliaments for over 30 years. He developed the first business and Parliament Dialogue Centre in the Westminster Parliament, the Industry and Parliament Trust, as a resource for Members and senior officials in both Westminster’s Houses. In 1997 he became the founding Secretary General of the international organization of Dialogue Centres. He also directed the development of the first learning and development service for Westminster MPs and their constituency staff.
The international business world is acutely aware of the enormous changes that are taking place in the dynamics of the global economy: the growing
interdependence between national economies; the changing geo- political world where there are no longer two dominating super powers, a world where the only certainty is change. While Parliaments see the impact of the changes in the policy issues and legislation they are called on to formulate, they do not have the same professional support mechanisms as the business world. Parliamentarians are by definition generalists, but they often have to operate as specialist professionals, while having little of the continuous professional development support that exists in other professions and the business world. The Dialogue Centre concept was first thought of 33 years ago by a group of senior United Kingdom Parliamentarians and industrialists who, even then, were aware of the trends that are so strikingly evident today: highly
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complex issues in policy and legislation relating to an ever- changing world economy. They wanted to create a practical bridge of understanding between those who create the wealth of the country and those who set the operating framework. The result was the first Dialogue Centre, the Industry and Parliament Trust (www.ipt.org.uk) which I ran for most of its existence. Since then my colleagues and I have helped adapt the Dialogue Centre concept to a range of different cultures and economies ranging from Sweden, Finland, Belgium (both Wallonia and Flanders) to Spain and New Zealand. In Spain it was used to consolidate democracy following the attempted coup and in Northern Ireland to strengthen the Assembly during the peace process. Because the economy has no political baggage and they recognized the need to understand it, politicians of all nine parties participated in the Northern Ireland Assembly and Business Trust when they would not be seen publicly together. Dr the Rt Hon. Lockwood
Mr Riki Hyde-Chambers
Smith, MP, Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament, has expressed the purpose of all Dialogue Centres when describing that of the New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust: “To improve understanding between the political and business arenas for the benefit of better government and greater prosperity of the economy. It is supported from the most senior levels of Parliament and business. Its aim is to inform, not indoctrinate and it is non- partisan, therefore it is neutral. If it were not so, I would not have accepted the role of President.” (http://www.nzbpt.org.nz)