By Russell Williams

On Sat. 11th June, the Caribbean Association of Industry & Commerce (CAIC) 6th Annual Conference was held in St. Kitts-Nevis

This was the first time I attended a CAIC conference, but within a half hour I was already experiencing a sense of deja vue. Once again it should have been clear to those present that we are really one Caribbean. All of us facing the same challenges and seemingly unable to implement or effect the changes necessary to advance the region.

The Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris Minister with responsibility for International Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs in his opening remarks highlighted the capacity of the region to achieve, and in some cases punch above its weight. However, as most of us know and as the investment houses usually warn, “past performance does not guarantee future results or returns”.

Minister Harris went on to stress that the private sector needs government to deliver law and order, a reliable and efficient civil service and a clear legal framework. Government he said should also provide an economic climate conducive to supporting a vibrant private sector,one where businesses local as well as foreign are encouraged to invest.

And this is where I have serious concerns. While its important to be able to look back and recognise past achievements its imperative that we lay the foundation and framework to ensure future success and progress, and I for one was left wondering what steps were being taken nationally or regionally, to achieve future success.

Quite often we receive impressive presentations, hear stirring battles cries and calls for action. However when one looks for concrete action to support the words, there is none. A recent example, is what took place at the OECS Tourism Minister’s meeting also held here in St. Kitts-Nevis, where concerns were raised over the decline and the cost of intra-regional travel. Barely two weeks after airing their concern two states actually increased the departure tax at their airports further increasing the cost of travel, so once again, the actions do not match the talk.

A key observation which has been a long standing concern of mine and others is the lack of information available to make critical business and other decisions. Without fail every month we in the Caribbean will hear unemployment and inflation figures for European and US economies, yet trying to get this data within the region is like searching for the Holy Grail. This point was emphasized by James Moss-Solomon as he summarised the matters outstanding from the 5th CAIC meeting.

It was also demonstrated after a presentation on the impact a successful manufacturing sector has on the economies of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The chair of the discussion disclosed that “according to the US Trade Department” the United States imported manufactured goods from OECS member states to the value of US$88 Million. The key point here is the source quoted, it wasn’t possible to get those statistics from within the OECS. Quite frankly we need to learn the value of better record keeping and the effective use of data, and more importantly we must learn to share information and experience if the region is to progress.

The 6th CAIC meeting covered a number of topics including Tourism, Trade Logistics in CARICOM, Geothermal Energy, the CARICOM Development Fund; the Caribbean Court of Justice and its role in intra-regional trade, and much more, in the coming issues I will give a synopsis of some of these topics as well as my thoughts.

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