Regional action plan for economic development critical

LEADERS of governments, businesses, and business support organisations from around the region, converged at the Hilton Barbados last week.

There were two days of deliberations on matters related to trade, and export with the region, and between CARIFORUM member states and their trading partners.

The Caribbean Exporters’ Colloquium, which ran March 20th and 21st, was part of a week of activities organised by Caribbean Export during its inaugural Caribbean Export Week.

Surrounding the theme of export-led economic growth, discussions kicked off with a re-examination of the relevance of recommendations from the 1992 seminal report “A Time for Action”. Panellists included Sir Shridath Ramphal and Dr. Arnold McIntyre of the Caribbean Regional and Technical Assistance Centre.

In his remarks as Former Chairman of the West Indian Commission, Sir Shridath lamented that there was no political action, or will to act on the recommendations of the above-mentioned report, despite it being accepted by regional heads some 24 years ago.

Relevant issues

The report would have addressed issues still being discussed today, such as foreign exchange problems, the quality of governance, dissatisfaction with the political directorate, and the then emerging drug threat which has now ballooned into a regional endemic.

Other points up for deliberation were the region’s export performance under trade agreements such as CARIFORUM-EPA, and the status of the Private Sector Advocacy.

One shortcoming voiced by some delegates were that not enough time was provided for discussions and cross the floor interactions between them and the panellists, something that would have added value to the already packed line-up of presentations.

Among other speakers during the course of the event were Dr. Frank Ward, Chairman of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers’ Association Inc., and Dr. Desmond Ali, Executive Director of the Caribbean Poultry Association, who both gave a somewhat detailed outline of the roles which both organisations have played in driving export led growth within their respective industries.

Private sector to blame

Of note, Sir Ronald Sanders, moderator for one of the sessions, argued that private sector organisations were as much to blame for the struggle to achieve economic growth, as were governments. Singling out the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, in collaboration with the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, as well as the West Indies Rums and Spirits Producers Association, Sanders, remarked that apart from the two, Caribbean-wide private sector organisations struggled to grab the attention of governments, by laying out their own plans to form overall economic growth and development.