GLOBAL CHALLENGES - LOCAL SOLUTIONS IN THE COMMONWEALTH PUBLIC SECTORS - REPORT ON THE 1996 BIENNIAL CAPAM CONFERENCE, HELD ON 21-24 APRIL IN MALTA

The 1996 Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Manage ment (CAPAM) biennial conference in Malta attracted an impressive list of speakers. The topics of discussion ranged across country-specific reports offering a variety of insights into new directions in public a dministration. The conference was titled 'The New Public Administratio n: Global Challenges - Local Solutions'. The conference was addressed by three prime ministers: Dr Mahathir Mohomad from Malaysia, Prince Mb ilini Dlamini from Swaziland and Dr Edward Fenech-Adami from Malta. Dr Mahathir focused on the marketisation of public services in Malaysia. He was a strong advocate for privatising as many public services as p ossible because privatised entities paid tax while publicly provided s ervices cost money. Dr Fenech-Adami focused on the role of the public sector in stimulating private markets, and professional development wi thin Malta's career public service. The Maltese prime minister had giv en public sector reform high priority especially with respect to best practice and encouraging Malta's tertiary institutions to contribute t o public sector research, training and debate.