ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT NDPC and District Assemblies, and lays the foundation for administrative and other forms of decentralisation. 77. The representatives admitted that much remains to be done in implementing decentralisation, but point out that a great deal has been achieved in areas such as education and health. The Local Government Services Act, 2003 (Act 656) should enable more rapid and effective implementation of administrative decentralisation. It should assist in clarifying and rationalising the relationships between district administrations and government departments, and in ensuring consistency in the institutional framework among sectors and districts. Some have argued that the time is ripe for District Chief Executives to be elected, and for competitive party elections to be introduced at the local government level, similar to those at the national level. 78. Among the actual steps taken, the authorities are proud of the National Economic Dialogue, an annual forum started in 1997, which involves civil society, labour and the private sector. At the forum, the government typically makes a presentation on national economic policies, and participants comment and make recommendations. The authorities have also recently constituted the Ghana Investor's Advisory Council, which meets twice a year under the chairmanship of the President and has become a vehicle for consultation with the private sector. 79. The government is also taking steps to improve coordination within the public sector to enhance the predictability of economic policy generally. A major element is the timely release of budgetary resources. A favourable development in raising the quality of coordination within the public sector has been the processes utilised during the formulation of the GPRS and its subsequent implementation. A great deal of learning has resulted from this experience. 80. In the formulation of national macroeconomic policies, it is believed that the annual National Economic Dialogue would contribute to a better understanding of policies and objectives. The efforts of the National Planning Commission to consult with the general public on a wide front on macroeconomic issues is also seen as positive. There are, nevertheless, certain general concerns about transparency, as well as the implementation of reforms in particular departments and agencies where the public believes that transparency is low. Persons and organisations in the domestic community look for transparency because they want to: (a) participate in policy formulation; (b) be assured that there is fairness, competence and professionalism in government decisionmaking; and (c) feel that they are regarded as being of equal worth in the community. 69