B.V.I. Monday, August 31 – Government has extended the deadline for completion of its second Establishment (business) Survey to Thursday, October 15, giving businesses an additional six weeks to complete the survey.
The survey, conducted by the Development Planning Unit, started in June this year and is designed to capture information on expenditure, revenue and other areas from local businesses, in an attempt to measure the performance of various economic sectors.
Acting Director of the Development Planning Unit (DPU) Ms. Patlian Johnson is hoping the extension will generate more feedback from business owners. “Of the 222 questionnaires delivered to business establishments, to date only 17 have been completed and returned to the DPU, which represents only 8% response rate.”
Ms. Johnson appealed for the cooperation of business owners and operators. “If you have questionnaires in your possession which are not completed, please do so as soon as possible. We are hoping that the six-week extension will result in a significantly increased response rate,” she said.
“The questionnaires may seem tedious and unfamiliar to some but the DPU is again offering assistance to business owners who need help completing the survey,” she stated. In addition to fielding questions from business owners, the DPU staff members are also available to visit the person’s place of business and assist in the completion of the questionnaire.
The DPU official further stated that “the businesses can give us their financial statements which will be held in confidentiality and we can complete the questionnaire for them and if we have any additional questions or require additional information, we will ask them.”
She added that persons who do not keep adequate records should not be deterred from completing the questionnaires, stating that approximate figures can be used. “It is important that we have the cooperation of local businesses,” Ms. Johnson said, explaining that “the information gathered through the establishment survey is important for the formation of Government policy, and will also enable better informed private sector investment decisions.”
She further explained that “the information collected is going to determine the output of the Territory, output in terms of total expenditure and revenue and is used to calculate the Gross Domestic Product, which is the measure output. With the information collected, we will be able to determine what sort of transactions the BVI engages in with the rest of the world - that is called the balance of payments.”
As is customary in the execution of its surveys, the DPU is assuring business owners that the information submitted will be treated with the strictest confidence. “Confidentiality is a standard held in very high esteem by the DPU and I would like to reassure persons in the business community that the department is taking every step possible to ensure that information submitted to is used for the purposes outlined as well as kept confidential,” Ms. Johnson said reassuringly.
She added that the DPU’s data collection process is “governed by the Statistical Act, 2005 which makes provisions for all DPU employees to take an oath of confidentiality. The act also has provisions for how the information is published so there is no link between the information and any individual business.”
Ms. Johnson noted that for further protection business owners can opt to have the questionnaires returned to them once the information has been extracted by the DPU. Questionnaires, which are not returned, will be destroyed.
The Development Planning Unit is responsible for acquiring and analysing statistics to facilitate economic planning and analysis. The unit functions under the umbrella of the Premier’s Office.
British Virgin Islands News