Caribbean globally uncompetitive: Time to get serious

By Sir Ronald Sanders:


Only one Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country made the top 50 countries in the World Economic Forum’s “Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011”. Barbados is rated at 43 of 139 countries that were surveyed. Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Guyana were rated 84, 95, and 110 respectively.

No other CARICOM country was rated because of a lack of survey data.

This is not good news for the CARICOM area already beset by severe economic problems including high debt to GDP ratios, increasing unemployment, and contracting economies.

Barbados’ higher ranking over the three other CARICOM countries surveyed is due, according to the Report, to its better health and education facilities and technological readiness, but it got poor marks for inefficient government bureaucracy, access to financing, a poor work ethic among the labour force and foreign currency regulations.

Crime is rated highest among the problems that beset Trinidad and Tobago followed by an inefficient government bureaucracy and, surprisingly, access to financing. None of its rankings – not for basic requirements, efficiency enhancers or business sophistication and innovation - matched Barbados.

However, Barbados’ ranking in the specific areas of business sophistication and innovation at 52, suggests that there is need for the business community to improve its performance if Barbados is to continue to be a leader for the region in maintaining global competiveness.

The Report highlights University-Industry collaboration in Research and Development as a strong point for Barbados. With a ranking of 40, this is an area that Barbados could further develop, and that other CARICOM countries should emulate across a broad area of economic activity.

Like Trinidad and Tobago, crime was identified as the biggest problem facing Jamaica’s competitiveness. An inefficient government bureaucracy, access to financing and an inadequately educated work force were also identified among its major setbacks.

High tax rates headed the list of Guyana’s problems, followed by crime, and inadequately educated work force and access to funding. The enrolment rate for secondary education and hiring and firing practices were Guyana’s two most notable competitive advantages with rankings of 16 and 20 respectively.

So, who are the top ten most competitive countries in the world for business? In order of priority, they are: Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, United States, Germany, Japan, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada.

The inclusion of Singapore, a small island state, is significant. It shows that small size is not a barrier to being competitiveness in business. Singapore, incidentally, was the top recipient last year of investment of every country in the world.

And, what distinguishes these top ten countries from the other 129 nations in terms of their ability to be competitive globally and attract businesses? The World Economic Forum identifies 12 interrelated pillars for competitiveness, among them are: the strength of institutions and laws, political stability, the quality of infrastructure, public health, and education, and levels of technology and innovation. The Forum makes the point that “the pillars are not independent; they tend to reinforce each other and a weakness in one area often has a negative impact on other areas”.

In the case of Singapore, a physically small island state, it is ranked “number one for government efficiency; second for its financial market sophistication ensuring the proper allocation of these factors to its best use”. It is also ranked fifth for its world-class infrastructure with excellent roads, ports, and air transport facilities. In addition, it has a strong focus on education, providing individuals with the skills needed for a rapidly changing economy.

Singapore’s accomplishments are greatly to be admired particularly when it is considered that both Guyana and Jamaica at the time of their independence in 1962 and 1966 respectively were more prosperous than Singapore.

Clearly there are lessons to be learned by Caribbean states from Singapore’s success. Not all of them will be transferable because of the different work culture that exists between Singapore and the Caribbean, but there are other basic experiences and knowledge that Singapore could offer, among them: how to make government more efficient and institutions stronger.

Lessons might also be learned from Malaysia, which, like 13 of the 15 CARICOM states and Singapore, is a member of the 54-nation Commonwealth. Apart from Taiwan, China, and a few oil-rich Arab states, Malaysia is the highest ranked developing country in the competitive index at number 26. In business sophistication and innovation, it is ranked at 25 and 24 respectively of the 139 surveyed countries. Were it not for its security situation, Malaysia would have been higher up the list.

CARICOM countries have to do much better if they are to emerge from their present economic morass and rise up to claim a significant share of the world’s opportunities for investment and business.

Bringing crime under control has to be a top priority for CARICOM countries and they can best do so together. The sooner governments explore the establishment of regional machinery for collectively tackling crime within each country, the better.

Establishing the Caribbean Single Market also should be accelerated with mergers and acquisitions between Caribbean countries being facilitated by legislation. This will improve business sophistication, enhance efficiencies, and strengthen institutions. Taxation levels in many countries also have to be reviewed to make them more competitive globally. Importantly, access to financing should be a high priority that should be tackled by governments and the private sector collectively devising ways to do it.

The government bureaucracy that slows down investment also has to be overhauled rapidly. Inordinate delays and red tape that slow investment cost Investors money. They don’t hang around; not with a world eager to lure them.

A series of meaningful consultations between governments and the University of the West Indies; between governments and the regional private sector organizations; and the creation of task forces drawn from all three could offer implementable solutions to the problems of competitiveness that beset the Caribbean region.

It is time to get serious, or get left behind.

September 10, 2010

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Serving CARICOM's interest; not some other country's

By Sir Ronald Sanders:


A row has broken out in St Vincent and the Grenadines over the possible candidature of that small Caribbean country for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the period 2011-2012 in opposition to Colombia.

The St Vincent Opposition Leader, Arnhim Eustace, is claiming that, in seeking to be elected to the Security Council as a representative of the 33-member Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) group, the Ralph Gonsalves government is carrying out the wishes of Venezuela’s populist President, Hugo Chavez, simply to deprive Colombia of the seat.

Chavez and the Colombian government have been openly hostile to each other in an increasingly worsening situation (about which more later).

This row in St Vincent could be replicated throughout the LAC group, and may spread to the general assembly of all UN member countries if the group does not decide on a single candidate for the one seat allocated to it.

Historically, the LAC group has been able to reach consensus on one candidate. There have only been five contested elections over the years, and since 1966 when CARICOM countries began the process of becoming independent states, three Caribbean countries have been selected by the LAC group for the Security Council five times. Guyana was selected for the periods 1975-76 and 1982-83; Jamaica for the periods 1979-80 and 2000-2001; and Trinidad and Tobago for the period 1985-86.

Eustace claims that the St Vincent government is contesting selection in the LAC group because the country’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is tied to Chavez though membership of ALBA, a grouping of eight countries formed at Chavez’s initiative and in which, it is said, Chavez exercises influence over the others by virtue of the Venezuelan government’s financial contribution to their political survival.

It is widely felt that Chavez does not want Colombia on the Security Council because he regards that country’s government as a proxy for the United States administration. Chavez has criticised a US-Colombia military pact under which the US has access to military bases in Colombia. According to Chavez, the military bases would be used for espionage purposes and would allow US troops there to launch a military offensive against Venezuela.

For its part, the Colombia government has accused Chavez of collaboration with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a rebel military group that is seeking to topple the government.

The last time a bitter contest in the LAC group for a Security Council seat occurred was 2006 when Guatemala clashed with Venezuela and neither country could muster sufficient support to be endorsed as the undisputed candidate.

The battle then proceeded to the UN general assembly but not before Chávez had invested millions of dollars in a year-long campaign to get Venezuela elected to one of 10 non-permanent seats. After 48 ballots and two weeks of voting, neither country secured the two-thirds majority to clinch the contest and, eventually, the LAC group became actively involved in finding a compromise candidate in Panama but the process left much bad feeling all round.

In response to the Arnhim Eustace’s claims, Prime Minister Gonsalves released a document used to brief Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders during a meeting in Brazil in April regarding his government’s position on the non-permanent Security Council seat.

A Caribbean Media Corporation report says that the document “acknowledged that the island’s proposed candidacy ‘would likely necessitate a campaign against Columbia (sic)’, which is currently a declared candidate for the sole vacancy allocated to the Group of Latin American and Caribbean (GRULAC) in the October 2010 elections”.

However, the document is also reported as saying that St Vincent’s “proposed candidacy is less a challenge to Columbia (sic) than it is an advancement of a principled position on the representation of CARICOM, SIDS (Small Island Developing States) and small states at the upper echelons of multilateral diplomacy”.

No one can question the right of the St Vincent government to offer itself within the LAC group as a candidate for the Security Council seat. But the timing of the decision is curious because in 2009 the group had settled that Colombia would be the candidate for the 2011-2012 term. This tacit decision was made when Colombia wanted to be selected for the 2010-2011 term but conceded to Brazil.

It would have served both St Vincent and the LAC group better if the government had declared its decision to run for the 2011-12 term before Colombia had secured the nod of the group especially Brazil, and before relations deteriorated to its present sore point between Colombia and Venezuela.

The St Vincent document suggested that CARICOM countries should endorse the country’s candidature but that, if it did not prevail, another CARICOM country should step in as a “compromise candidate”. This suggests that the government is not confident of its capacity to knock Colombia out of the contest and that the issue would have to go to the full UN body where a two-thirds majority would be required for success.

If CARICOM member states vote as a bloc in the LAC group they would command 14 of the 33 votes, but the dispute would continue once Colombia held out. Nonetheless, CARICOM countries, acting together, could certainly block Colombia’s selection if it were their intention to ensure that one of their members should be the candidate.

There is a case for a CARICOM country to be the candidate for the 2011-2012 term. Since the Caribbean joined the LAC group, Colombia has served four terms and the larger countries – Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in particular – have dominated. But, being on the Security Council is not a cheap affair particularly if election is preceded by a contest with a richer country.

A small Caribbean country would have to invest heavily in the election campaign travelling around the world to drum up support. Then, it would have to strengthen its mission with qualified people, meeting the significantly increased costs for two-years. If it does not beef up its mission, it will do nothing more than warm the Council seat some of the time. That would do no good for the work of the Security Council and would convince the international community that small states have no place there. All of CARICOM would have to pitch in financially and with qualified people.

The situation would be worse if a non-CARICOM country paid the bill. The international community would see this as “he who pays the piper, calling the tune”, and CARICOM’s standing would be diminished to its detriment. This is not far-fetched; it happens now in the International Whaling Commission where Japan finances the participation of some small states and directs their votes.

If CARICOM countries decide to support St Vincent or another one of their small members against Colombia for as important an organ as the UN Security Council where all eyes will be focussed on them, they must be prepared to meet the costs, and they should ensure that the candidature is in their own interests and not to promote the policies of any other country.

May 7, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Delay in joining Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is amazing

By Oscar Ramjeet:


As Belize is about to join the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final court, one of the seven judges and the Court Registrar visited the country and held discussions with local judges and explained the Rules and Procedure of the regional court with practising lawyers.

Their visit coincided with a farewell sitting for Appellate Court Judge, Jamaican-born Boyd Carey.

Justice Adrian Saunders, who was involved in drafting the Rules of the CCJ and Registrar, Dawn Pierre, explained to more than three dozen lawyers at a workshop on Saturday, the rules and procedures to be followed in filing appeals to the regional court.

Belize is the third CARICOM country to get rid of the Privy Council as the final Court, and the first to do so since its establishment, when only two countries, Guyana and Barbados, went on board. It baffles me why the other member states are hesitant and/or reluctant to do so, especially countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, which were in the forefront in the setting up of the Court. However, I have been reliably informed that Dominica is in the process of making preparations to join, but that country is now experiencing parliamentary setback since the opposition party is boycotting parliament, claiming irregularities at the last general elections.

Jamaica as well as St Lucia are also considering joining in the near future. The Patrick Manning administration in Trinidad and Tobago is all in favour of the regional court, but in order for that country to join it must get the support of the Opposition, since it requires two thirds of the vote, and the then opposition leader, Basdeo Panday, was not in favour of the move. However, now that there is a new leader of the opposition UNC, in Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is a West Indian- trained attorney, it is likely there will be a change in that regard.

The CCJ has been established since February 14, 2001, by an agreement signed by a dozen regional governments on February 15, 2003, but the inauguration took place nearly five years ago on April 15, 2005.

The Court has not heard many cases in its Appellate jurisdiction since only two of the 12 countries have accepted the CCJ as the final appellate court, and this is very unfortunate since the Port of Spain based Court has the best court facilities on the planet. I was privileged to visiting the Court and was impressed with what I have seen - besides the well equipped libraries, spacious conference room, robing room etc. I was elated with the court room appearance, with the most modern telephonic and fascinating equipment. The facilities include: A document Reader/Visual Presenter: Ability to use laptop computers, DVF/VCR: Audio/Video Digital Recording (microphones situated throughout the courtroom) ; wireless internet access, and audio/video transcripts.

International jurists who have visited the CCJ and read its judgments generally have a high opinion of the court. One of them, Francis Jacobs, a Privy Councillor and former Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, said that the CCJ is of a high calibre and would be able to take account of local values and develop a modern Caribbean jurisprudence in an international context. He also took a swipe at some Caribbean leaders when he said, "It is regrettable that political difficulties have obstructed acceptance of its Appellate jurisdiction and that the outdated jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council survives for many of those states.

One of the most respected Caribbean jurists, Dominican born Telford Georges, said before his death that he regarded it as a "compromise of sovereignty" for us to remain wedded "to a court which is part of the former colonial hierarchy, a court in the appointment of whose members we have absolutely no say."

I sincerely hope that steps will soon be taken by those countries that have not yet joined will do so as soon as possible.

March 22, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International