PSOJ

Much has been said and written over the last several days and weeks about Jamaica’s prospective agreement with the International Monetary Fund, and most recently about last week’s rating action by Standard & Poors. It may surprise you then, that in making my remarks at this morning’s breakfast, I intend, important as they may be, to leave those particular topics alone. Instead I would propose to speak to certain fundamental and long‐standing economic issues, in the wider context of which any particular IMF agreement, or any S&P rating actions for that matter, are merely sideshows. ...

Jamaica has to understand the importance of branding if the country hopes to achieve business success internationally. 

It involves the building of goodwill by consistently meeting customer expectations.  Branding means the creation and development of a specific identity, carefully designed to present qualities that are attractive to the public.  This is the thinking behind the Superbrands programme in recognizing and paying tribute to successful brands that accomplished this successfully.  Superbrands Caribbean was established to identify and recognize the region’s successful brands, so as to tell their story in a high-quality publication and bring these brands to the attention of the world through an international network.

The recently concluded Economic Partnership Arrangement with the European Union has brought both challenges and opportunities.  This presentation outlines some of the opportunities that local providers of services could access in the EU, particularly in untraditional markets. 

Hemispheric trade expansion must be seen to be and must in reality be a tool that supports a broader growth agenda. Despite the considerable merits of trade expansion, the political reality is that in the aggregate, people in the Americas, including the United States, must perceive that trade expansion is in their interest or else such efforts will be unsuccessful.  The Summit of the Americas has set the agenda to keep the momentum going, and this report outlines some of the recommendations.

This report is an assessment of the Caribbean Basin Initiative.  It identifies a number of impediments to future development in the Caribbean. The impediments primarily fall into three broad categories: (1) small size of the countries and companies in the regions; (2) limited infrastructure development; and (3) trade policies that feature government reliance on tariff revenue, high external tariffs, and limited regional integration.

Competing in the global economy will require new approaches and strategies that take advantage of global supply chains and new technologies.  The challenge lies in improving productivity and diversifying the Caribbean’s export base, while strategically building networks.

The Doing Business Summary Report highlights Jamaica's rankings for each business stage relative to 181 economies.  It also outlines critical areas of concern for which changes are required to improve the rankings, and the reforms proposed by relevant agencies.

Following on from the inauguration of the new US president in 2009, there has been much speculation about the new direction of US trade policy.  This document lends some clarity to the US position.  Unfortunately, the Caribbean is not high on the agenda.

This document presents Jamaica's National Energy Policy 2009 - 2030. This policy represents Jamaica's first long term Energy Policy and is structured to ensure that Jamaica achieves by 2030 "A modern, efficient, diversified and environmentally sustainable energy sector providing affordable and accessible energy supplies with long-term energy security and supported by informed public behaviour on energy issues and an appropriate policy, regulatory and institutional framework."

The Caribbean region is being adversely affected by current international economic conditions. Because Caribbean countries are small island economies, these external shocks create challenges for economic growth and stability in the region. The Compete Caribbean programme is intended to support solutions for these challenges.

The National Export Strategy document is an initiative of the Government of Jamaica, the Private Sector and Civil Society to create a sustainable framework to support the development and expansion of the country's exports as the basis for economic growth.  This document is the latest version and is presently undergoing final revisions.

I am pleased to present my report to the members on this the 21st Annual General Meeting of the PSOJ.

 As I have indicated publicly, I will demit office when the new Council, to be elected today, meets on June 18 to elect a new Executive Committee, including the Officers of the PSOJ. It has been an honour to serve this noble institution and I will leave office with a sense of fulfilment for the several accomplishments made by the Organisation in the thirty (30) months of my presidency.