It is Wonderful to see

Posted on by
Minister of Energy and Business Development, Lisa Cummins

It is wonderful to see the number of ‘vendor pop ups’ popping up on weekends. With the fear of COVID 19 receding Barbados has joined the global community by switching to back to normal mode despite the caution from the Chief Medical Officer Kenneth George.

We have talented individuals in Barbados who are producing quality products, Barbadians need to support this budding micro business sector, including the government. One suspects our small scale of production is a disadvantage finding significant export markets, however, Barbados’ high import volume creates the opportunity for import substitution. There is no reason why Barbadians at our stage of development should ignore the benefits of a thriving domestic market.

For many years we have given lip service to the micro business sector, preferring to allocate significant chunk of subsidies to the sexy and big ticket segments of the economy. Our planners must work harder to facilitate an outlet for creatives to express themselves along with the economic benefits that accrue. What is the point of annually allocating a significant part of the national budget to educate Barbadians to be satisfied with importing almost all commodities and services consumed?

What cannot be refuted is that we have talented Barbadians and a budding micro enterprise sector. The government agencies responsible must do better to lend support to ensure the sector can be sustained AND at the same time lead by example by purchasing from the sector. The unwieldy procurement policy of governments acts as a disadvantage by creating cash flow and procedural hurdles for small enterprises – is it an impossible problem to solve? We have the largest Cabinet by population size in the world paid by taxpayers to solve freaking problems. 

Successful economies every where have a common characteristic – a thriving home market. Those who have ears let them ear.

10 thoughts on “It is Wonderful to see”


  1. Barbados is like a goldfish bowl, you can be on the inside looking out, or on the outside looking in. It is small and people can get island fever and want to leave and go to foreign, but those in foreign miss it and want to come back. It is sunny and warm unlike other places which are cold or freezing. It has beautiful blue skies and beaches and is not grey and cloudy like the concrete jungle bungle shitty city rat race. The ideal life is to live in many places and travel wherever you want to go.

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    • Mottley, Kagame welcome IFC partnership
      THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION (IFC) yesterday announced its support for a new partnership among countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa to boost the regional production of pharmaceuticals and strengthen health systems, which will require the active involvement of the private sector to succeed.
      Leveraging its expertise in emerging market private sector health care and pharmaceuticals, the IFC will seek to contribute to the transatlantic alliance for health and pharmaceutical equity established during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) by the governments of Barbados, Guyana and Rwanda.
      The initiative, which is open to other countries in these regions, wants to use inter-governmental, South-South cooperation to help achieve the development and manufacturing of 60 per cent of all essential pharmaceuticals for the populations of the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America, and within their respective continents by 2040.
      Critical role
      “The role of the private sector is critical to strengthening health care by making supply chains more regional and resilient, especially in pharmaceuticals,” said IFC managing director Makhtar Diop.
      “IFC is already taking
      steps to support nations in the Africa and Latin America and Caribbean regions to build and grow their manufacturing capacity in pharmaceuticals and vaccines, and supporting this partnership only builds on that urgent mission.”
      Diop announced his support for the initiative while at the United States-Africa Leaders’ Summit, where he met with Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame at IFC’s headquarters in Washington D.C.
      Created platform
      “By matching capacity with political will, we have created a platform that will undoubtedly benefit both Africa, and the Caribbean and Central and Latin America region, by allowing our region and the wider Global South to achieve pharmaceutical equity for our people, while providing opportunities for our citizens in this region whose expertise is in the area of sciences,” said Mottley.
      “I want to express sincere thanks to IFC and the managing director Makhtar Diop for their support of this initiative,. I truly believe it is a strong signal to the wider world that this transatlantic alliance to manufacture 60 per cent of all essential pharmaceuticals for the people of the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America by 2040 is one that is greatly needed.”
      The initiative is also being supported by kENUP Foundation, and will seek to focus cooperation on oncological drugs, preventive
      and therapeutic vaccines, as well on improving women’s health outcomes.
      “I am thankful we could come together today in support of this transatlantic alliance,” said President Kagame of Rwanda.
      “I want to thank especially the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, for building this bridge, and IFC’s managing director Makhtar Diop, for his involvement.”
      IFC’s support for the initiative builds on its current efforts to boost the ability of African nations to source vaccines and pharmaceuticals regionally. (PR)

      Source: Nation


  3. Regulated or not, it’s all a scam, hoping to see many more of these frauds picked up, especially in the Caribbean, this one is looking at a well deserved 115 years in prison.

    This should cool the fintech fraud passions.

    “Sam Bankman-Fried: Arrested crypto exchange boss hugs parents as he is denied bail on fraud charges.”

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  4. Lawd…William, TLSN even when we are not around, the place lit up. Am off on more progressive and positive pursuits but the entertainment is live suh.

    Karma on a roll.

    “Auditor General: $11 million in fees 

    – by Emmanuel Joseph June 5, 2020

    The Auditor General has uncovered a troubling series of transactions in which eight State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) engaged the services of 34 attorneys or law firms and paid them close to $11 million in taxpayers’ money under questionable circumstances.”

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