<div dir="ltr">I agree with going local first in fact only going local. They can be invited to tender but knowing that it will most likely be awarded to a local. The chinese do not have European companies building their stuff and this is solely because they deliberately built up their capacity. We continuously spew engineers, architects, economists etc from our universities. where do they all o so that we wind up with foreign companies building stuff? <div>
<br></div><div>If the issue is the bidding price please do not ignore that foreign companies are backed by their governments. It is an open secret that China funds their commercial companies. The Europeans do the same albeit more covertly. How is a local company with zero govt backing supposed to compete with that? </div>
<div><br></div><div>The beauty with connectivity nowadays is that I have realized that the knowledge and skills I have as a geospatial guy are exactly the same as an Australian,Hungarian, American Graduate. We are all taught the same concepts and are expected to apply them to solve problems. Of Course the Moi regime destroyed most Why we allow our government to lock us out of big contracts is rather amusing. Who is the government anyway?</div>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 6:18 PM, Ali Hussein <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ali@hussein.me.ke" target="_blank">ali@hussein.me.ke</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div>Kivuva</div><div><br></div><div>Valid points.</div><div><br></div><div>Policy wonks need to study the Japanese and Chinese model (its apt considering our gaze is now facing east as opposed to West) </div>
<div><br></div><div>After the 2nd world war Japan was in tatters and basically a consumer/vassal state of the US. They literally pulled themselves by their shoestrings and protected their industries while at the same time partaking of US Capital. MITI (Ministry of international Trade and Industry) made a policy of building industry champions from Motor Vehicles to IT to Agriculture (Kobe beef from Japan is one of the Most expensive beefs per kilo in the world).</div>
<div><br></div><div>When Government and industry pull together in tandem a world of opportunity opens up. </div><div><br><div><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:medium">Ali Hussein</span></div><div><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:medium">
+254 0770 906375 / 0713 601113</div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>"Kujikwaa si kuanguka, bali ni kwenda mbele" (To stumble is not to fall but a sign of going forward) - Swahili Proverb</span></div><div>
<br></div>Sent from my iPad</div><div><div class="h5"><div><br>On Sep 19, 2013, at 4:38 PM, Kivuva <<a href="mailto:Kivuva@transworldafrica.com" target="_blank">Kivuva@transworldafrica.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div>
</div>
</div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div><div class="h5"><span>There are two very similar threads to this current thread, one of</span><br><span>theme "How we are killing our Kenyan ICT Industry, what we could do to</span><br>
<span>revive it!"</span><br><span></span><br><span>I have noticed members contradict themselves on that thread, and this</span><br><span>current one.</span><br><span></span><br><span>Is there any economist in the list who can give us theory of best practice?</span><br>
<span></span><br><span>I don't believe liberalization means we should open our bellies and</span><br><span>let every big economy out there eat from it.</span><br><span></span><br><span>I like giving the example of Germany. Their products although of</span><br>
<span>relatively superior quality, are usually multiple times more expensive</span><br><span>than imports.</span><br><span>Same with their services. I wonder if the A 100 highway in Berlin was</span><br><span>build by Chinese, even if Chinese firms quoted a fraction of the cost.</span><br>
<span></span><br><span>Ali talked of the great Tumbuktu. When did we stop being innovators</span><br><span>and builders and start being mass consumers? Is neocolonialism</span><br><span>ensuring that we never move forward on our own? That we cannot do</span><br>
<span>anything on our own? That Kenyans shall forever remain spanner boys in</span><br><span>mega construction projects!</span><br><span></span><br><span>NSSF and Times Tower were build by local companies, albeit probably at</span><br>
<span>inflated prices. But with a willing and able government, can't we have</span><br><span>local contractors do just as good a job?</span><br><span></span><br><span>I am dead sure that the UTILITARIAN value of having local companies do</span><br>
<span>works even at double the cost far outweighs the savings of auctioning</span><br><span>our Capital. If we buy machinery from the west, should we still buy</span><br><span>services from them?</span><br><span></span><br>
<span>Where did we loose our national pride?</span><br><span></span><br><span>Regards</span><br><span></span><br><span>______________________</span><br><span>Mwendwa Kivuva</span><br><span><a href="http://twitter.com/lordmwesh" target="_blank">twitter.com/lordmwesh</a></span><br>
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.<br>
<br>
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.<br>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Regards,<br><br>Mark Mwangi<br><br><a href="http://markmwangi.me.ke" target="_blank">markmwangi.me.ke</a><br><br><br><br><br>
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