With full freedom of movement among Barbados and three other CARICOM member states starting on Wednesday, Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Paul Inniss sees major opportunities for the local business community.
He envisages that it will not only make a wider pool of talent available to corporate Barbados, but “create opportunities to probably scale up our businesses, [and] seek new partnerships” and market opportunities.
However, Inniss also sees challenges, and is calling for “the regulatory framework within the Caribbean . . . to be fixed, because it is difficult at times trying to do business within the Caribbean space”.
Inniss, who is based in Barbados as executive vice-president and general manager, Sagicor Life Inc., with responsibilities including the Eastern Caribbean, was speaking during two recent editions of the BCCI’s radio programme Let’s Talk Business, which is broadcasted on VOB 92.9FM in collaboration with STARCOM Network Inc.
October 1 is the date from which Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines will implement full free movement among themselves.
The CARICOM Secretariat explained that “by implementing the full free movement regime, these four countries have agreed to grant their nationals the right to enter, leave and re-enter, move freely, reside, work and remain indefinitely in the receiving Member State, without the need for a work or residency permit”.
Nationals of the four countries “will also be able to access emergency and primary health care, and public primary and secondary education”.
Speaking during the discussion, Shenelle Richards, CARICOM Single Market and Economy focal point in the Prime Minister’s office, noted: “There is no need for work permits so all nationals of those four countries are now going to be able to reside and work here, they are going to be able to leave, enter, re-enter, reside and work and remain indefinitely without the need for any sort of residency permit or a work permit.
“So I think that is going to give us an opportunity to have a wider talent pool for businesses, and it’s also going to be an opportunity for the region to learn more about each other and for us to be able to have that knowledge sharing that we really want within CARICOM.”
Inniss said that “from a business perspective, I think it is a very exciting time, . . . it is a watershed moment for the region, and specifically for Barbados, my home country”.
“For decades, we’ve been hearing about this, and it is good to see that regional integration is more than an aspiration. It will now come alive in a very practical way.
“So from a business perspective, free movement of people and . . . along with that the free movement of capital, goods and services can only enhance the economies of the region or within the region.”
He added: “But specific to Barbados, one of the first things that come to mind is the ability to expand or to search for new market opportunities certainly will create opportunities to probably scale up our businesses, seek new partnerships, getting a better and a fuller understanding of the needs of other territories within the market space.
“And naturally, the movement of talent, or access to a much wider, diverse talent pool within the markets that are or the territories that are participating.”
Inniss also said that the fact that Barbados would now be participating in a much larger economic space was “critical in terms of becoming competitive”.
He elaborated, stating: “I work for a global organisation that would have taken advantage of the concept and aspiration of free movement of people, capital, goods and services, in terms of the Sagicor group.
“We are more than a regional company, we started local, and I think it is a very good example of the opportunities that are available to businesses in Barbados that have the appetite and want to not only access skills and labour, but also pursue some business opportunities within the wider region.”
Barbados ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong, reminded that “the reality is that Barbados has had a long relationship with St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica and natives of those countries are not new to Barbados, . . .and in fact we have fairly significant Vincentian and Dominican communities right here in Barbados”.
“So where these two countries are concerned, nationals who move to Barbados under the new regime, we are fairly confident that they will have support structures here in Barbados. It will not be any culture shock for them. It will simply be an intensification of processes that already exist,” he stated.
The diplomat said it was a different scenario in relation to Belize, which is “in the Western Caribbean, it’s on the Central American mainland, it is some 2 000 miles away from Barbados”.
“I think it is fair to say that the Barbadian people don’t know Belize well and similarly, the Belizean people don’t know Barbados well,” he observed.
“We haven’t had much intercourse, so I think where Belize is concerned, the national authorities in both Barbados and Belize are going to have to make a very concerted, intentional effort to get our people to know each other better.”
One difficulty to overcome in this regard was transportation, he said.
“You’re also going to have to work on the travel routes, because right now it’s very difficult for a Barbadian travelling from the extremity of the Eastern Caribbean to get to Belize, which is on the other side, the Western Caribbean, and likewise, a Belizean to get to Barbados,” said Comissiong.
“So I think that where Belize is concerned, we are going to really have to work on that if we are going to reach a stage where appreciable numbers of Barbadians and Belizeans move between the two countries.”
He also believes that the real benefits of full free movement, particularly for Barbados, will not be seen immediately and is likely to be attained once all CARICOM member states become involved.
“But what we are doing is very important, because these four are actually making the start, these four are going to be the pioneers that will work out all the kinks, but hopefully perfect the regime so that the others can join,” he said.
“But from the standpoint of Barbadian businesses that are looking to fill skills gaps, that are looking for sources of skilled workers coming in, and so on I think that we have to look towards when the system is fully implemented.
“Because the movements between the four pioneering countries, realistically, if we look at the historical data, the movements of people is likely to be relatively modest, and certainly modest in relation to the skilled workers that I know the Barbadian business class would like to attract to Barbados.”
“So I would say, from the perspective of the Barbadian business class at this point, you are probably still more focused on the skilled national regime, which is the regime that embraces all of the CARICOM member states, rather than the more limited, full free movement regime, more limited, because, even though it applies to everybody, it is in these initial stages restricted just the four member states,” Comissiong said.
Inniss, who said that Sagicor operates in Belize, does not see the distance or relative lack of relations with Barbados as a major obstacle, especially as it related to the opportunity “to expand the talent pool”.
“Some regional companies have been doing that, where you will see a . . .a nice, diverse mix of nationalities working for Barbadian based companies that are regional and are based either in Barbados or . . . within the Caribbean. So I think the first opportunity will be a much wider talent pool,” he explained in relation to Belize but also Dominica and St. Vincent.
“The benefit of being able to expand the talent pool and expand the markets that we can now operate in and create that larger economic space, for me, is an exciting opportunity and something that we should embrace,” he reiterated.
“I think it will open competitiveness within our various markets as well. For local businesses, it provides the space now for us to consider who we can partner with. So look at opportunities around how can we expand by partnering with others within the Caribbean space.”
The BCCI president, however, wants an improvement in the ease of doing business within the region.
“Every time you talk about CARICOM and the free movement of people, I can’t help but go back to my experience and memory of living in the US and how free and easy it is to move from one state to the other without issues,” he recalled.
“In the Caribbean, that is not the case, it is so difficult at times to move within the Caribbean space. I actually am responsible for the entire [Eastern Caribbean] business that we operate in, and there are territories that I go into, and I feel like a stranger, I feel as though I’m someone from Mars.
And sometimes, when I look and observe that what I would consider foreigners, not from within our space can freely move through, but I’m stuck immigration with 1 000 questions around who I am, where am I going? And I said, I’m working for Sagicor, . . . it just doesn’t make sense.”
He added: “So from a business perspective, when we then get into the challenges, the regulatory framework within the Caribbean needs to be fixed, because it is difficult at times trying to do business within the Caribbean space.”
