Prime Minister Mia Mottley has thrown out a challenge to the umbrella body of the global business sector to attract more high-quality international brands to do business in Barbados.
Pointing to the island’s high rankings in Latin America and the Caribbean across various development indicators, Mottley said what was now needed was strategic partnerships and a change in the “historic risk averse legacy”.
“We know what we bring to the table. What we need to do now is actively pursue those opportunities that will bring the highest quality international brands to the other side of the bargaining table to ultimately create best in class enduring partnerships,” said Mottley.
“This must be priority number one for the public and private sector, for all of us who work in the cause of Barbados, and BIBA must be a driving force in pursuing these types of investment opportunities all around the world because global business really is a domain of the private sector. This is critical,” she said.
The prime minister’s call came on Monday as officials of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) announced plans for the 25th anniversary celebrations of the organisation.
Mottley acknowledged that Government needed to put certain things in place to create a more enabling environment and make it easier to do business.
“The Government will do what is necessary to make the domestic environment one that is exceptionally attractive and conducive to doing a calibre of business that we need to do to attract people to our shores. We will also establish commercial diplomacy by expanding our horizons and opening up in Africa and Central America as we have done in the last three years,” said Mottley.
“The Government will do its part through a combination of ceiling shattering policies and high-quality investments,” she added while highlighting several areas in which government has already started its transformation process to improve the doing business climate and take advantage of emerging technologies.
Mottley also indicated that Government will be updating and implementing new financial regulatory policies and laws and updating the Companies Act to make them more relevant.
In her prerecorded message, the prime minister told the online attendees that her administration was “hyper-focused on growing the economy by double digits within the next few years,” while she insisted that the private sector must take the lead and that the process must be a “deeply collaborative” one.
“It is you, the private sector that has the infrastructure to build strong business relationships because connections are at the heart of the business. You know how to network instinctively. You are the ones with the inherent capacity to seek out opportunities and grow partnerships all around the world,” she said.
Mottley said while she knew her challenge to the private sector was an “audacious” one, she reminded the BIBA officials that the world was going through a rapid change and a revolution and that “Barbados can either get lost in the tide or we can do as many of our surfers do, ride this wave into a bright bold future”.
She said the time had come “for us to grow beyond the traditional call centre model and pursue those other BPO partnerships that have the potential to transform lives and add great value”. Executive Director of BIBA Carmel Haynes said in recent times the organisation has been seeking out partnerships with other organisations outside of Barbados with shared interests.
She highlighted the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Guyana as one of the latest organisations with which BIBA was seeking to deepen relations. She said BIBA was also playing a critical role in the planning of an inward mission from that country to Bridgetown next month.
“We have been involved in the planning meetings for that. We are looking at how we can support the expansion of services into Guyana because global business is something that is new to them,” said Haynes.
“I am very pleased that we had four member firms represented on the mission that went to Guyana two weeks ago . . . So we are definitely looking at creating new linkages and partnerships beyond Barbados while strengthening the ones that we have,” she said.
BIBA is celebrating its silver jubilee this year, focusing on the various industries in the sector as it hosts several events to mark the milestone.
On March 21 and 22, BIBA will host its Barbados Risk and Insurance Management Conference, focusing on new technology in the insurance industry. In April the spotlight with be on the future of financial services and opportunities for Barbados, again with a focus on the use of technology.
In May, BIBA will host a global leaders’ forum and in June the attention will shift to the members of the professional services.
The year of celebrations will culminate with the annual BIBA Global Business Week from October 23 to October 28, which will take the form of a series of hybrid events. The organisation is expected to put together a commemorative silver jubilee magazine, capturing the year of celebrations and looking back at the last 25 years.
(MM)
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