Barbados is a classical small open economy and as such is impacted by every wave originating within foreign economies to which it is tied.
This impact is seen most dramatically over the last seven years where imported inflation as evidenced in the cost of living index coupled
with reduced demand for our international business, tourism and real estate products, all occurred almost simultaneously.
The result is an environment characterised by low or negative economic growth, high levels of unemployment, rising cost of living and rising Government debt. That is our current situation.
The priorities are therefore evident as none of the above are desirable for Barbados. It is unrealistic, however, to frame the discussion on Government action as Government in and of itself cannot solve some of these problems.
The most significant of these is unemployment and the solution to this has to be found in our much touted Social Partnership, that holy grail much sought after by our Caribbean neighbours.
The focus has to be on energising the current private sector or sowing the seeds that a more dynamic private sector emerges.
This is not a criticism of our business men and women who make valuable contributions to this society daily, but to indicate that the solution to unemployment will not be found in the realms of the current or familiar.
So we [Government and private sector] must focus on new areas of economic activity that have potential for job creation whether they are in agriculture, manufacturing or renewable energy.
Naturally the role of Government is to facilitate as well as incentivise and one can envision the creation of a ministry focused on industry with a majority focus on innovation and job creation. The ministry should not be separate from the financing required to support initiatives which will fall under this ministry
Government already has plans to deal with the level of debt and to deal with the cost of living; therefore little will be said on this. Some good ideas were ventilated on these issues over the past six weeks.
It would be astute for policy makers to distil if there be any virtue in any of the ideas and act accordingly.
Additionally, truth be told, this writer identifies more with the need for employment generation as a means to economic improvement than with debt reduction and cost of living issues. There appears to be many commentators who are eager to ventilate those issues.
It must be said that we have largely adopted a “wait and see” attitude towards the recent financial crisis and the subsequent economic crisis. We pride ourselves on being intelligent and visionary. This is incompatible with the level of paralysis seen in the face of difficulties.
Therefore one of our priorities should be an examination of why we are paralysed in the face of these difficulties. It is known that those who govern can be strategic in their thinking and can also execute to precision.
We have all just witnessed this in a political context. Maybe we need to transfer that energy and intelligence to industrial development and job creation. It would resound to the betterment of this country.
• Randolph Sandiford is chief executive officer of Matrix Marketing.