If Barbados wants to take advantage of opportunities for economic growth in the aftermath of the global economic crisis and to achieve developed nation status, it has to make the “tough decisions”.
The suggestion has been offered by Neville Isdell, retired chairman of Coca-Cola, who told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY Barbados should exploit opportunities in the areas of financial services and information technology, observing that these were two of the most promising business sectors since some of the traditional basic manufacturing industries were “not for Barbados anymore”.
But he stressed that a decision would have to be taken to augment Barbados’ own intellectual capital with imported skills.
“If what Barbados wants is to be is a First World country, there are going to have to be a number of changes . . . the opportunities that exist in financial services are there, but there is going to have to be a recognition that you have to bring in skills from outside to augment . . . you are dealing with sophisticated skills that are needed, IT being the same,” Isdell pointed out.
Insisting he was not dictating the direction Barbados should take, Isdell explained: “[Financial services] match the ambition of Barbados because it is an industry which needs intellectual capital.
“If we bring in the additional skills, we have got enough people to be trained up to be taken to the next level. That is not to say that we don’t have competent people on the island, but we need more.
“The laws of comparative advantage are such that we are going to have to use our intellectual capital,” Isdell insisted.
During the interview the man credited with taking Coca-Cola to new heights during his tenure cited the “surprising” growth in the economies of China, India and Africa, all of which had capitalized on opportunities for growth in entrepreneurship.
He also referred to reform measures taken by some countries to turn around their failing economies.
“In Zambia they got rid of backlog in Zambian courts, with business registration, land registration, transfer of land, customs bringing things through the port much more effectively and much more efficiently.
“All of those areas, it is basic governmental reform and I think it is something that Barbados needs to look at,” Isdell advised.
He cautioned that “the old ways of doing things are no longer going to get us there”.
And he observed the island would need “a much more effective and much more efficient infrastructure in a number of ways, for example in terms of telecommunications”, if it hoped to achieve developed nation status.
Yet the successful businessman who retired to Barbados and owns businesses and property here insisted that “this is a choice for Barbadians”.
“So I am not trying to preach to Barbados about how they run the country.”
Irish-born Isdell worked for Coca-Cola for 43 years and first retired to Barbados in 2004. He was called out of retirement to become chairman of Coca-Cola during a period of turbulence in the company and after returning it to a strong position, retired again in 2009 to Barbados where he has various business interests, including his own investment company.