BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN addition to the creation and implementation of a proper strategic plan, President of the Manufacturing Council of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce - Jose Rosa – says in order for the manufacturing to thrive, the promotion of the manufacturing sector outside of the Federation needs to be improved.
Speaking exclusively with SKNVibes about the performance of the manufacturing sector, Rosa said there are a number of variables that need to be present if the sector were to reach its full potential.
As it stands – he noted – the government, especially via the Ministry of Trade, works closely with and is “accessible” to the council but more support is needed to address specific issues.
“As a matter of fact, the company here is ready to grow and we don’t have buildings or space available to grow. It is ready to get there. Providing the infrastructure to grow any of our plants is a difficulty. We need a little more support from the government there to create the infrastructure for manufacturing, because if tomorrow I want to grow this building I don’t have the room to do it…The government is working with us but the availability of buildings is not there and that makes it difficult.”
Another area named by Rosa is the external promotion of the local manufacturing sector.
“One of the areas that we need to improve is our promotion. We have the SKIPA (St. Kitts Investment Promotion Agency) and we need it to - in conjunction with the private sector - take a primary role in promoting our island from here to get more manufacturing plants. People are going to invest money and we need to look for those people. There are expos that we need to participate in…and then we can create some kind of interest for the investors to come to the island to invest.”
Over the past couple of years, the cost of electricity has escalated, drawing complaints from the lips of many business operators and owners who claimed that their profit has been significantly reduced because of it.
Rosa indicated that the government should assist the manufacturing more in addressing the problem of high energy cost.
“One of the other areas that could be critical for us is how can they be involved to look for other alternative energy. The electricity cost is too high. How can the government support us to reduce our energy cost so that we can be more competitive in that particular area?”
