Keep your rot to yourselves!

[Me]

Trinidad and Barbados are First-World nations.

Talk about not dealing with reality. People should boycott if they want to. It is Trinidad that will be losing.

[Gamma]

bizarro universe, but still dem can have chat because their economy is more stable than ours ...

[Rockman]

Okay Islandman,do know this is an opportunity....

[World Fan]

Red tape stifling Jamaica's growth, says Wehby

Published: Thursday | December 12, 2013 4 Comments


Don Wehby, group chief executive officer of Grace-Kennedy Limited. - File




Don Wehby, GraceKennedy's group chief executive officer, has highlighted the urgent need for added impetus and drive to the local export sector that has, for some time, remained stationary in an [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]economy[/COLOR][/COLOR] desperately in need of a boost.
Wehby, in an address to the annual Christmas luncheon of the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] Exporters' Association (JEA) last week, stressed the need for the Government to remove roadblocks and hurdles that block the path of the exporters to enable them to carry out their mandate.
"Bureaucracy, red tape and lengthy delays stifle rather than promote success," warned Wehby.
The export market, handicapped by obstructive red tape, did not escape Wehby's attention.
EXPORTS THE WAY TO GO
"I am putting it firmly on the table that in a [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]country[/COLOR][/COLOR] like Jamaica, where there has been no more than two per cent growth in the last 20 years, if we are to grow, it has to be export-led," he declared.
Wehby referred to unfulfilled objectives of the National Export Strategy (NES) that was completed in 2008, through the efforts of the JEA and other stakeholders in the sector.
He noted that it was intended to craft strategies to harness the goods and services that Jamaica has to [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]offer[/COLOR][/COLOR] for wealth creation and [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]economic[/COLOR][/COLOR] development, making Jamaica a leading per-capita export country known for its commitment to creativity, innovation and exceptional quality.
Within that context, Wehby took aim at some key objectives. These include:
Increasing export GDP from 19 to 30 per cent;
Increasing the contribution of the export sector to overall employment;
Reducing the ratio of imports to exports;
Diversifying exports through value addition, increased contribution of service export and access to new and emerging markets.
Building a competitive mindset among producers who have the potential to export.
Wehby was clearly not comfortable with the state of affairs of the NES.
"What is the progress of the NES?" he queried. "How much closer are we to any of those goals since the document was validated in 2009?"
Added Wehby: "If we are to achieve any of the objectives of the NES, the Government needs to create an enabling environment for business to be done, and then move out of the way so that these businesses can operate without [any] type of interference."

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...ead/lead5.html

[Willi]

NOW!

But everything is just for a while and it seems like total destruction (of caricom) is the only solution!

[Willi]

Preach it!

[Mosiah]

Don't agree with you, Islandman. I can't imagine what justification we would have to treat Haitians or anyone else with disrespect just because their government has screwed up their economy.

[Willi]

Best maybe, but why not use all avenues open to us. We can do better AND we can boycott at the same time!

[Willi]

Until dem apologise, i would not buy a thing from TnT.

All mi Angustura bittaz aggo get dash weh!

[Assasin]

Iman, I am not really with you on this. Trinidad and others try to play smart on every agreement. Their products and people come into Jamaica without any problem and we have to be fighting every step of the way just to honor our part. When it is not blocking our patty, it is not making an even playing field, or blocking our people and the list goes on.

It is either we have an agreement and they choose to honor it or we don't have an agreement and they do what they wish.

Tired of the games by these leaders.

[Islandman]

Maybe I have not explained myself well.

I am not justifying anybody or any nation being disrespectful to another based on socio-economic status. In a perfect world none of that should matter and we should always salute those who try to change that, however slowly.

However I have now lived long enough and seen enough to realize that if you don't improve your economic standing, and by extension your negotiating power, it is ALWAYS going to be an uphill struggle to get respect and be treated fairly.

Personally I have got tired as a Jamaican and as a person of African descent of being always in the position of demanding justice and respect. Not saying we shouldn't demand it, but my goodness can we not start feeling like we are at least moving to the point where we don't have to anymore because there is a price to pay for not doing so?

Who messes with the Jews these days? Do we not think that them having been economically successful and powerful has something to do with that?

As I have said before, if you are constantly begging crumbs from another mans table, he will have a hard time seeing you as his equal. That is not specific to any nation, race or religion. That is just the dark side of human nature.

Africans will never get much respect as long as it depends on billions in aid from its former (and in some cases current) oppressors.

If Jamaica continues to get poorer and poorer relative to its neighbors, the disrespect will grow. Dancehall and some gold medals will not change that.

The frustrating thing is that it doesn't have to be this way. if we collectively want to change it. Not anymore it doesn't.

Oh well I will continue to dream of the promised land:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJtvp77iN74

[Islandman]

I am not particularly opposed to a boycott in principle. Its just that i know we as a people like to get hyped over protests , marches and boycotts which are sometimes necessary, but then we don't follow up with the hard, tedious work that has to follow if we are to change the fundamentals which resulted in the need for those actions in the first place.

[Mosiah]

Gwaan Sass!

[Rockman]

It is a question of perception.Israel receives aids but without the stigma attached to Africa...
Africa problem is it does not have a unified front,largely for the same reason plaguing Caricom nations.
Cuba was the first country that sent troops to Africa to fight the troops from Aparthied South Africa invading Angola.South Africa was encouraged to do so by the powers that be so as to maintain the economic stronghold arrogated.
The world isn't level.My point is things are primarily the way they are because of design.
If we fight for fair trade our leaders would be outlawed by those very forces and the Jakan people.
Our problem is being ignorant to the BIGGER agenda ....

[Islandman]

Not talking Israel specifically. I am talking Jews in general.There is a reason why US politicians have to stand with Israel, almost unconditionally. Again, not saying it is RIGHT, I am saying it is reality.

I do agree that not having a unified front is one of the problems, but in the 21st century that is now on us to fix, not anybody else.

I don't believe we are as powerless as you think we are. If there was no Barbados or Panama or even India story to tell then maybe I would have more doubts, but there is no external force working against Jamaica or lets say Nigeria and not against those places which prevents us from at least moving forward and not continually falling behind.