The recent Breakfast panel discussion at Hilton Barbados hosted by the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry was a timely discussion on the state of the local economy and a restatement on the place of business in the local environment. It is the kind of discussion which should have taken place a long time ago, but was particularly required at this time when the country is going through a prolonged recession.
Both Mr Andy Armstrong of Armstrong Agencies and Mr Dereck Foster of Automotive Art spoke to the current political environment and urged the political parties to get their acts together. Both these distinguished gentleman are aware of the adverse impact which uncertainty and instability in the political environment can have on business investment.
Mr Foster pointed out that “any time there is instability, people don’t spend money, and if they don’t start to spend money, we have a big problem”.
Mr Armstrong looked at the problem from the investment angle. He said: “If you are making longer-term investments you need to have certainty that the political situation is going to be stable.”
These truths are so self-evident that it is surprising that they have to be repeated; but repeated they must be. For far too long in our fair land the sobriquet “corporate Bridgetown” has been regarded as akin to a four-letter word, hardly to be used in polite company, and as the haven or collective name for a group whose personal interests in maximising profit produces nothing but an adverse impact on the commonweal.
Perhaps this approach may have had and probably still has some spin-off effect on the attitudes displayed by some workers on the job, but a close look at the role which business must play in ending the recession should put an end to that canard.
The fact is that in any democratic country, business and the culture of the entrepreneur are necessary compliments to the democratic process; and fully understood, there is or ought to be a healthy symbiotic relationship between the Government of the day and the business community.
It is this necessary symbiosis that drives President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron in their quest to stimulate confidence and recovery in the business sector, by sending the right policy signals.
It is the duty of the Government to provide the policy framework within which businesses may operate and thereby contribute directly and indirectly to the common good.
From businesses properly and efficiently run, the Government reaps taxes. Employment of the country’s workforce becomes a natural part of the operations of businesses, and initiatives which can earn foreign exchange are, in the main, developed and executed by entities that are the brainchildren of entrepreneurs who risk their investments and reputations in the ventures.
It is confidence in political stability that induces investors to locate their ventures in some countries rather than others; and as Mr Armstrong implied, certainty in the political system may increase confidence among the investing businessmen, thus promoting more investment.
Often, the recognition of business as a necessary partner in a country’s welfare leads the political directorate to confer honours on successful business people. Sir Richard Branson in Britain and Sir Charles Williams are two examples that spring to mind.
These two successful businessmen, starting from small beginnings, have in their respective countries, complemented the task of the political managers, by providing jobs, taxes, and earning foreign exchange all of which inure to the benefit of the wider community.
We urge wider public respect for the fundamental role which business plays in our community, and we endorse the call for a return to the high levels of political certainty and stability for which we have become well known, because that return will assist in restoring business confidence that will help to propel our economy out of the recession in which it is currently mired.