‘Use crisis to boost business’

Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Patrick Todd, has called on businesses to seize opportunities offered by the economic crisis.He was speaking yesterday at the West India Biscuit Company (WIBISCO), Gills Road, St Michael, during a ceremony to mark the relaunch of their factory tours.“. . . The current economic environment creates an unparalleled opportunity for public and private sector agencies to reform their institutions and ferret out any inefficiencies within their business operations.“Within this context, a cursory review of WIBISCO’s operations through the years would confirm the point that companies and organisations alike must embrace change and re-engineer their operation in order to weather any external shocks that may be presented from global imbalances,” Todd said.The Member of Parliament for The City said Government was continuing to stress the importance of organisations becoming more focused, creative and effective in their business operation and delivery of service.He added that Government was moving to build new institutional arrangements that were efficient, innovative, creative and competitive.“The adequacy of these new institutional settings will act as a catalyst to build strong productive sectors that can offer world-class products and services and take advantage of any opportunities presented from regional and global integration,” the minister stated.He said the strategic partnership between WIBISCO and Trinidad and Tobago’s Bermudez Biscuit Company had produced significant benefits.Todd said it was testimony to the fact that forging such partnerships between Barbados and other regional or international businesses could be the catalyst for a new wave of economic development within Barbados.He applauded the company’s ability to penetrate the markets of the Eastern Caribbean, the United States of America, Canada and Britain.The minister added that Government would continue to enforce a series of parallel initiatives at the macro level in an effort to create the appropriate enabling environment for businesses to strive.He noted that social and economic planners of business development must be optimistic.“We all must join hands and formulate new ways of doing business and thereby narrow the economic and social gap which now exists between us and our international counterparts,” he said. (NB)