~~Adz:Right~~BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 26TH 2007 - The wide range of issues relating to St. Kitts and Nevis' strategic response to chronic communicable disease like HIV/AIDS, chronic non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension and other significant health matters that affect the quality of life of its people, must continue to be addressed in the short to medium term because of their impact on the economic transformation process.
So says St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.
He said that population aging issues which could begin to exert pressures on the Federation's health care system, pensions and social security system; the protection of the environment which requires special focus especially as it relates to the sustainability of the tourism product; the need to strengthen the business environment to ensure competitiveness; land management issues including the continued implementation of a transparent and definitive land management strategy; and the continued focus on the maintenance of law and order, which is a vital necessity for the safety of the people and for growth and development are issues which must also be addressed.
"Our policy responses to these challenges will resonate down through the ages and history will reflect whether our decisions on these issues were sound and appropriate. It is not just the Government that future generations will judge; it is not just the Chamber of Industry and Commerce or the various church organisations that will be subjected to the scrutiny of future historians; it is our entire generation that would be blamed for compromising the livelihood of our children and succeeding generations, if we fail in this most noble enterprise of transformation and empowerment,' Prime Minister Douglas told some 200 participants to the National Consultation on the Economy.
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| Stakeholders at the National Consultation on the Economy at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Wednesday. |
Dr. Douglas told stakeholders that they must take the consultations very seriously, and put aside petty differences with a view towards arriving at concrete solutions to many of the developmental challenges and problems that St. Kitts and Nevis face as a nation.
"In spite of the scope and severity of the challenges, which confront us, we must retain our resolve to maintain sound macro economic policies that would promote a stable economy, characterized by steady and sustainable growth.
All of the aspects of sound economic management, including sound fiscal policies, we expect will translate into manageable fiscal deficits and levels of domestic demand that would be consistent with the ability of our economy to deliver," said Dr. Douglas who added: "we must progressively enhance the capacity of our economy to deliver improved standards of living for our people by fostering a culture of excellence that would enhance the competitiveness of the goods and services produced by our people and our enterprises."
~~Adz:Left~~Prime Minister Douglas said these important elements of development are critical to St. Kitts and Nevis" continued survival and progress, as a nation and "we simply cannot entertain any compromises in these important areas."
He urged stakeholders to focus their interventions on these important issues and on any other issues deem critical to the transformation of the economy and the empowerment of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Suggesting that the theme imposes a requirement for stakeholders to make a critical assessment of the approaches which St. Kitts and Nevis will develop as a means of "securing our future" in the global economy, Prime Minister Douglas was of the view that there must be an agreement that operating in the current global economy is challenging to say the least.
"We must deal with the erosion of trade preferences, increased competitiveness, changes in the areas of information and telecommunication technology, modification of international linkages in trade, and as I indicated before, dramatic declines in the availability of concessional financing.
~~Adz:Right~~ Indeed our economy has been significantly affected by the general climate of uncertainty and the "ups" and "downs" in the global economy and the economy of the United States in particular," said Dr. Douglas, who added that the Federation's manufacturing and tourism sectors, which exert significant influence on the level of economic activity in St. Kitts and Nevis and on revenue collections, are particular vulnerable to changes in the global economy.
"This vulnerability to global events is exacerbated by our small size, which, according to the Report on Small States prepared by the Commonwealth/World Bank Joint Task Force predisposes us to remoteness, insularity, and susceptibility to natural disasters, limited institutional capacity, limited diversification and a high degree of openness," said Dr. Douglas, who disclosed that the same Report makes several recommendations for the consideration of Small States in adjusting to the changing global regime.
During the consultation, Dr. Douglas presented several of the recommendations for consideration.
The Report he said suggests that small states should shift their attention to designing and implementing aggressive outward-looking export based development strategies.
"This would require efforts to reposition the economy which would entail an increased effort to exploit or create comparative and competitive advantage in the services sector, including tourism, finance, insurance, health, education, internet services and e-commerce. The Report admitted that there would be certain scale disadvantages, which would require special attention," said Prime Minister Douglas.
~~Adz:Left~~He said that increasing competitiveness and improving the investment climate with emphasis on securing property rights, simplifying the tax regime, enacting appropriate competition legislation, providing an adequate physical infrastructure, enhancing education and health infrastructure and improving governance were viewed as an integral part of this outward looking development strategy.
"In light of our country's recent ranking in the World Bank's "Doing Business" Report we would need to examine carefully our performance with respect to best practices in certain of these key areas in order to ensure that we continue to be attractive and competitive," said Dr. Douglas.
He said his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Government is committed to the elimination of red tape and the simplification of administrative processes with a view to making it easier to do business in the Federation.
"However, it is important to note that the World rankings was also based on an assessment of the length of time it takes to procure professional services required for the commencement and operation of business. Hence any improvement in our rankings will require the effort of both private and public sectors.
We stand ready to collaborate with the private sector in this important endeavour," said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that the Small States Report also suggested that small states would do well to harness the considerable potential of their Diaspora communities because this would help to provide finances, entrepreneurship and markets for private sector development.
~~Adz:Right~~"As we are all aware several developed countries have benefited considerably from the migration of our trained and talented people. This phenomenon that is often referred to as the "brain drain" has been devastating to many of our economies but we must learn to convert problems into opportunities.
We must therefore find creative ways of attracting and utilizing the skills, knowledge and resources acquired by our people that are resident overseas," said the St. Kitts and Nevis leader.
