1.2.

2 The Private or Business Sector - Corporate Governance

In governance parlance, the private/business sector serves as the engine of society. It is an
important collaborator in the economic development of the community. It generates jobs and incomes for
the people in the community. Because of its resources such as financial and technical expertise, it can
assist the local government in coming up with an economic plan for the community and help in the
implementation of the plan. It can also provide the needed resources for the government to enable it to
pursue big and wide-scale projects that are beyond the local government’s financial capability. Efficiency
and economy are expected outputs or products of corporate governance. The state provides a level
playing field for those able to compete and turns its attention to the provisions of safety nets for those
unable to do so.
In the field of information technology, the private sector can help the local government in the
development of technologies that would help propel the growth and development of the economy of the
community. In this connection, the private sector can assist the local government to promote the transfer
of technology such as the application of spatial planning and decision support systems for effective local
governance.
The participation of the market and civil society in governance adds a new role to the state and
that is of building partnerships and linkages between the two sectors. Moreover, their engagement with
the state shifts the social picture from elite control to active citizenship.