New Year’s message from John Williams, Chairman, Barbados Private Sector Association
The year 2013 is projected to be another challenging year for Barbados when we as a country will undoubtedly continue to battle the ongoing fallout from the world’s economic downturn.
For the past few years we have hoped that each New Year would bring a shift in the world economy back to growth and prosperity from which our country would benefit.
It has been a long wait and although we are confident that eventually the recovery will come, the timing has been impossible to predict.
2012 has been difficult for businesses and households alike as Barbados continues to feel the effects of the economic crisis that has enveloped much of the world.
The private sector in Barbados is severely challenged to see significant improvements in the short term as businesses face depressed domestic demand. Commodity and energy prices have also contributed to inflation and increased the cost of doing business.
Barbados has weathered the economic storms of past years, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, through the spirit of partnership among the major stakeholders in the economy. Although we will wait and hope for improvement in the international economies, we cannot plan on that being our only salvation.
The Government of Barbados, together with the labour movement and the private sector, must collectively focus our efforts on fixing that which is within our power to fix.
Each one of us, in the public and private sector, must do our part to bring about improvements in the levels of service, increases in productivity and efficiency, and the elimination of wastage.
This will require change and will not be easy, but it must be done. These should be our national goals for 2013.
As we celebrate the start of a New Year and look forward to the unfolding of the coming months, the Barbados Private Sector Association will continue to play its part.
Even in the face of global uncertainty we understand that a vibrant private sector, whether in the form of the largest corporation or the individual entrepreneur, offers the opportunity to realize a return to growth and prosperity for individuals, for families and for the country.
