BUSINESS MONDAY - frater: More investment needed

Barbados needs to pay greater attention to investing in digitising various government agencies so that they can adequately support local entrepreneurs in a digital economy.

That’s the view of Tara Frater, Principal and Founder of FT Legal.

She made the comments during a recent webinar hosted by the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business, on the topic of ‘Digital Economy – Strategies for Pivoting Businesses’. She spoke to this while reflecting on the help needed for Caribbean entrepreneurs to successfully navigate the digital economy.

“In order for our entrepreneurs to successfully transition to the digital economy in the Caribbean, there has to be that supporting infrastructure and framework by the government and government agencies that provide essential support services,” she stated.

She continued, “So to that extent, if you have to have a company setup, you need to interface with the companies’ registry. We need to look at the extent to which our existing framework for the delivery of services in our government agencies are optimised to service the digital economy. And there is, to my mind, frankly, a significant opportunity for growth in that area because we are not where we need to be in order to support our entrepreneurs adequately”.

Referring to the various lockdowns across the region in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Frater said the business continuity measures employed across the region were quite different. Using Barbados as an example, she said many agencies were either shut completely are on very limited functionality.

“In other jurisdictions across the region, they went through the same lockdown, or are going through the same lockdown that we have gone through, and their agencies are functioning in a highly optimised manner and they are still able to service their local clients, local entrepreneurs and international clients in the way they needed to, and therefore to send and to project a message that we are open for business and we can survive in a digital environment,” she stated.

Based on that, she said, it can be deduced that some countries have invested more in that area, which, she said Barbados needs to do as well.

She made the point while stating that digitising the various government agencies to provide ample support local entrepreneurs must go hand in hand.
(JRT)