Local entrepreneur, Mr Franklin Brand, has been elected President of the
St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Mr Brand, who is co-owner and manager of Island Bakeries Ltd, was elected at the 57th Annual General Meeting of the Chamber held Tuesday at Ocean Terrace Inn. Also elected as officers were Mr Gary DeSilva (of TDC Ltd) as Vice President, and Mr Rawlinson Isaac (of The Bank of Nevis Ltd) as Treasurer.
Five other Directors also joined the Chamber's Board: Mr Jerome Rawlins of Cable & Wireless (Nevis), Mr Ezrette Laws of CaribSupply Ltd, Mr Mark Wilkin of Carib Breweries Ltd, Mr Ernie France of TDC (Nevis) Ltd, and Mr Damion Hobson of Hobson's Enterprises. Mr Hobson will be completing the term of Mr Tapley Seaton Q.C. (Seaton & Foreman Chambers) who has resigned from the Board.
Other members of the new Board are Mr Greg Phillip of GMP Graphics & Printing, and Mr Anthony Abourizk of Fouad Abourizk Ltd. Mr Abourizk is also outgoing President of the Chamber, having just completed a maximum two-year term during the period 2004-2005.
In accepting his election as President, Mr Brand said he was honoured to serve in this leadership capacity - in spite of the challenging economic times that lie ahead for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, and the OECS ' as we hasten our pace towards full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Mr Brand indicated that the Country's response to the new trading
realities must be collective, as Government and the private sector should together find ways of ensuring that St. Kitts and Nevis remains competitive in spite of the lower labour rates, cheaper fuel costs and relatively higher productivity levels enjoyed by some of the more developed member countries (MDC's) within CARICOM such as Trinidad & Tobago. Mr Brand emphasized the imperative of the Chamber being a strong, pro-active and independent private sector force in order to best handle the various socio-economic challenges, threats and opportunities on the domestic, regional and international fronts.
Mr Brand thanked the outgoing Board of Directors for their support, and welcomed the new Directors who will be joining the Board at a time when the Chamber is seriously addressing critical issues such as (a) its own institutional strengthening and re-structuring; (b) constitutional and electoral reform; and (c) formulation of a tripartite approach to development in partnership with Government and workers' representatives. With regards to the latter, Mr Brand indicated his objective to lobby Government for full operationalisation of Convention #144 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This Convention calls for a truly consultative and transparent approach to national economic matters involving prices, employment, productivity and wages.
The Chamber's Annual General Meeting was chaired by the Executive Director, Ms Wendy Phipps.
