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Samuda takes over 'red tape' committee - Names himself chairman
Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, took control of the Target Growth Competitiveness Committee (TGCC), a body tasked with helping companies wade through red tape that hampers business.
Samuda this month replaced economist and former adviser to the People's National Party administration, Dennis Morrison, as chairman of the committee, saying it would allow him to deal more proactively with bottlenecks in the system.
The TGCC, which was launched in 2005, is an initiative born from the partnership between Jamaica and the European Union under the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Its aim is to cut red tape, which the Bruce Golding administration has signalled it is committed to erasing - both to improve Jamaica's reputation in the ease of doing business and entice investor capital.
VERY COMPETITIVE
"Whereas we are very competitive in areas of tourism and entertainment, there are other areas that are lagging behind and therefore, what I have decided to do is launched an assault on the whole process by which Jamaica becomes competitive," he told Wednesday Business.
Jamaica is at mid-point in global competitiveness rankings, at 60 of 120 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum.
It's at No. 63 of 178 countries in the Doing Business Survey rankings.
Samuda said he assumed the reins because he wants to directly deal with the issues of competitiveness in a proactive way, including an assessment of legislative changes, given, he said, that the country now needs to be positioned to leverage business from the new trade pact with Europe.
"We can not be satisfied to simple look at the domestic market - which would be Jamaica-Caricom - but rather, we must go out into the world," he said.
"We have the European market to penetrate, we have the North American market, we have the South American market and we have markets in the Far East."
In defence of his move to chair the TGCC, Samuda said he was not prepared to be a minister who sits back as just a policymaker.
Investment opportunities
"I consider my role as integral to driving the whole question of competitiveness and investment opportunities that are available to Jamaica," he said. "I will not be satisfied with simply just dealing with the issue of observing from a distance. I wish to be integral to the process."
Samuda said that he wants to also cut the bureaucratic red tape when he convenes the first in a series of competitive roundtables of the TGCC next week Tuesday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.
He said he was already in the process of addressing this problem through meetings with the private sector.
Samuda also said he would be meeting with the Ministry of Finance for talks on how government can streamline the import-export processes.
A release from Jamaica Trade and Invest, the state agency which oversees PSDP, promised that Samuda would launch "a major offensive" to reduce bureaucratic red tape at the first in a series of roundtables February 26.
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com
Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, took control of the Target Growth Competitiveness Committee (TGCC), a body tasked with helping companies wade through red tape that hampers business.
Samuda this month replaced economist and former adviser to the People's National Party administration, Dennis Morrison, as chairman of the committee, saying it would allow him to deal more proactively with bottlenecks in the system.
The TGCC, which was launched in 2005, is an initiative born from the partnership between Jamaica and the European Union under the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Its aim is to cut red tape, which the Bruce Golding administration has signalled it is committed to erasing - both to improve Jamaica's reputation in the ease of doing business and entice investor capital.
VERY COMPETITIVE
"Whereas we are very competitive in areas of tourism and entertainment, there are other areas that are lagging behind and therefore, what I have decided to do is launched an assault on the whole process by which Jamaica becomes competitive," he told Wednesday Business.
Jamaica is at mid-point in global competitiveness rankings, at 60 of 120 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum.
It's at No. 63 of 178 countries in the Doing Business Survey rankings.
Samuda said he assumed the reins because he wants to directly deal with the issues of competitiveness in a proactive way, including an assessment of legislative changes, given, he said, that the country now needs to be positioned to leverage business from the new trade pact with Europe.
"We can not be satisfied to simple look at the domestic market - which would be Jamaica-Caricom - but rather, we must go out into the world," he said.
"We have the European market to penetrate, we have the North American market, we have the South American market and we have markets in the Far East."
In defence of his move to chair the TGCC, Samuda said he was not prepared to be a minister who sits back as just a policymaker.
Investment opportunities
"I consider my role as integral to driving the whole question of competitiveness and investment opportunities that are available to Jamaica," he said. "I will not be satisfied with simply just dealing with the issue of observing from a distance. I wish to be integral to the process."
Samuda said that he wants to also cut the bureaucratic red tape when he convenes the first in a series of competitive roundtables of the TGCC next week Tuesday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.
He said he was already in the process of addressing this problem through meetings with the private sector.
Samuda also said he would be meeting with the Ministry of Finance for talks on how government can streamline the import-export processes.
A release from Jamaica Trade and Invest, the state agency which oversees PSDP, promised that Samuda would launch "a major offensive" to reduce bureaucratic red tape at the first in a series of roundtables February 26.
dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com