Chapter five: Corporate governance Table 5.6: The most problematic factors in doing business (per cent of responses) Access to finance 21.4 Inefficient government bureaucracy 14.4 Inadequate supply of infrastructure 13.6 Corruption 9.0 Crime and theft 7.2 Tax rates 6.8 Poor work ethic in national labour force 6.8 Inadequately educated workforce 6.3 Tax regulations 4.4 Restrictive labour regulations 4.1 Policy instability 3.2 Inflation 1.3 Foreign currency regulations 0.9 Government instability/coups 0.6 Source: Global Competitiveness Report, 2008–2009. Towards improving the business environment 535. The government of Lesotho, through the MTICM, recognised that an efficient regulatory and administrative environment within which businesses operate is an important driver of competitiveness. Not only can a sound business environment result in more businesses committing themselves to remaining in Lesotho, but it would also act as a powerful incentive for other businesses to increase their operations in the country. 536. To this end, the MTICM came up with the idea of establishing an OSS facility, phase by phase, as a key element in making Lesotho a more attractive investment destination and to improve ‘doing business in Lesotho’. The idea was supported by the findings of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team in 2004, which looked into problems confronting the textile and garment industry at the time. The establishment of the OSS facility in 2006 was seen as a process that would take some time for full implementation. It is therefore being implemented in phases: • Phase 1 integrates those functions related to issuing import, export and rebate permits. • Phase 2 adds functions related to business registration and licensing to those created in phase 1. • Phase 3 integrates those functions related to issuing work and resident permits and travel visas and adding these to those created in phases 1 and 2. 149