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...to ensure Jamaica's success. Anything less is a joke.
Key points of Anju's national address:
* There is understandably lots of concern re "economic growth". Many folks are screaming for 3% or more. I agree we need to accelerate our growth vector... it is an important component of prosperity
* However my government is about much more than some growth number plucked from the air...we're about national development. Focusing on a growth number in isolation from the environment we exist in causes us to miss the bigger picture. We have seen periods of relatively fast growth in our past...where the benefits accumulate at the top tier but never trickle down sufficiently to the majority.
Pursuing that course would be a mistake my team will not make
* We must start to ACT as if we know we live in the 21st Century....We must start to build a 21st Century economy. At the moment we operate a 20th century economy...badly. So our task is not merely to improve that backward economy by growing it at 3% or more...Even if we succeed we would still be backward.
* So our task is to re-orient our economy around the fast growing elements of 21st Century business trends. When we do that we will not only ensure faster growth...but the larger goal of our truly sustainable development
* We love and will sustain our traditional industries like tourism. We need them going forward. However an economy which is tourism dependent or where tourism is our "leading industry" or trading imported goods is seen as "great business" ...will not make us a prosperous nation in this century. Our best chance for prosperity is based on knowledge industries which are and will continue to be the fastest growing sectors in 21st century economy.
* I have set a national goal of achieving a modern, knowledge-driven, high value add economy by 2035 when my 19 years in power will expire
. I will be engaging the Opposition and ALL sectors of society to fashion our action plan within 6 months so we get complete buy in to that 21st Century Social Contract for Prosperity. Only by working together can we achieve this goal.
* Having set this national target...our first task will be to re-fashion our education system. away from the colonial era format we still, sadly, promote.
Our schools should no longer be mills where the only product is a local certificate of dubious 21st Century value. Those days have long passed in more evolved countries of the world and although we're late to this we must start ASAP.
* I will initiate a revamp of our education system from administration through teaching & curricula ...to a big focus on STEM applications. My target by 2025 will be to produce 6,000 technology-proficient secondary school graduates/year and 2000 similar tertiary graduates/year. We will draw on all available intellectual & physical resources to achieve this goal...including our vast diaspora. Fortunately we do have very successful & cost effective STEM programs to model
* By 2030 we will have a great pool of tech savvy young people...and the benefits will be ENORMOUS. We will build internationally competitive operations from their talents...and also attract foreign capital to help us build their and also our modern industries.
That my fellow Jamaicans, is the only way to a chance at real prosperity in the 21st Century. Anything less would see us continue treading in the quicksand of backwardness and poverty
Key points of Anju's national address:
* There is understandably lots of concern re "economic growth". Many folks are screaming for 3% or more. I agree we need to accelerate our growth vector... it is an important component of prosperity
* However my government is about much more than some growth number plucked from the air...we're about national development. Focusing on a growth number in isolation from the environment we exist in causes us to miss the bigger picture. We have seen periods of relatively fast growth in our past...where the benefits accumulate at the top tier but never trickle down sufficiently to the majority.
Pursuing that course would be a mistake my team will not make
* We must start to ACT as if we know we live in the 21st Century....We must start to build a 21st Century economy. At the moment we operate a 20th century economy...badly. So our task is not merely to improve that backward economy by growing it at 3% or more...Even if we succeed we would still be backward.
* So our task is to re-orient our economy around the fast growing elements of 21st Century business trends. When we do that we will not only ensure faster growth...but the larger goal of our truly sustainable development
* We love and will sustain our traditional industries like tourism. We need them going forward. However an economy which is tourism dependent or where tourism is our "leading industry" or trading imported goods is seen as "great business" ...will not make us a prosperous nation in this century. Our best chance for prosperity is based on knowledge industries which are and will continue to be the fastest growing sectors in 21st century economy.
* I have set a national goal of achieving a modern, knowledge-driven, high value add economy by 2035 when my 19 years in power will expire
. I will be engaging the Opposition and ALL sectors of society to fashion our action plan within 6 months so we get complete buy in to that 21st Century Social Contract for Prosperity. Only by working together can we achieve this goal.* Having set this national target...our first task will be to re-fashion our education system. away from the colonial era format we still, sadly, promote.
Our schools should no longer be mills where the only product is a local certificate of dubious 21st Century value. Those days have long passed in more evolved countries of the world and although we're late to this we must start ASAP.
* I will initiate a revamp of our education system from administration through teaching & curricula ...to a big focus on STEM applications. My target by 2025 will be to produce 6,000 technology-proficient secondary school graduates/year and 2000 similar tertiary graduates/year. We will draw on all available intellectual & physical resources to achieve this goal...including our vast diaspora. Fortunately we do have very successful & cost effective STEM programs to model
* By 2030 we will have a great pool of tech savvy young people...and the benefits will be ENORMOUS. We will build internationally competitive operations from their talents...and also attract foreign capital to help us build their and also our modern industries.
That my fellow Jamaicans, is the only way to a chance at real prosperity in the 21st Century. Anything less would see us continue treading in the quicksand of backwardness and poverty
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