EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _____________________________________________________________________ procedures manual which follows international norms and standards. The Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions has also subscribed fully to the provisions for the fight against money laundering. The CRM, however, observed the lack of synergy between the banks and the public authorities to convert the intention into reality. 5.18 With regard to access to information about the different funds, grants and aids put at the disposal of enterprises by the state, several stakeholders stated that it is characterised by unfair competition because enterprises established in the capital are informed about business opportunities well before others. Besides, some SMEs – notably those in the agro-food sector – have to compete with groups which have easier access to aid from the government and international organisations. 5.19 The recent increases in the prices of certain consumer products highlighted the inefficiencies in the markets for these products. They result mainly from arrangements and speculations associated with an absence, or poor interpretation, of information about future trends in the legislative framework. 5.20 With regard to fraud and smuggling, the CRM acknowledges that, in a country that shares borders with six ECOWAS member countries and which uses the same currency as five of its neighbours, smuggling becomes a difficult phenomenon to control. In Burkina Faso it concerns various products such as medicines and food products (including sugar). However, cloths from distant countries are also smuggled. The sale of medicines by street vendors is a danger. The authorities acknowledge the problem but have not managed to eradicate it. 5.21 There are three monthly economic magazines, whose publication is at times disrupted, and most newspapers have columns on economics. However, their influence on public opinion is limited by illiteracy, the lack of an economic culture and the poor level of investigative journalism. 5.22 The recommendations made by the CRM in terms of this objective are: (i) that the government should intensify contacts with the banking sector, in the fight against money laundering, to establish a system for providing rapid information on important movements of funds not associated with current commercial operations; (ii) that the subcontracting of markets for the provision of goods and services to enterprises, established in the regions by the large companies in Ouagadougou, should be promoted by awarding extra points when bids are evaluated; (iii) that the training and upgrading of enterprises of all sizes and categories, including those operating in the BTP sector, should be intensified by soliciting external technical and financial support; (iv) that public authorities should promote greater transparency in the bidding process by allowing more time for bidders to study the markets that are open to competition, while ensuring that tenders to be executed in the regions are widely published using, where necessary, the sub-branches of the CCIA-BF. 21