BUSINESS MONDAY: Private sector must be more robust, diverse: Prof. Bourne

FORMER President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Professor Compton Bourne, is hoping that as the region moves forward it would see a more robust private sector.

In a chat with the current President Dr. Gene Leon, Professor Bourne said that instead of having a few large conglomerates, the private sector 30 years from now should be more diverse in terms of its composition.

“We should have a middle sector that is vibrant and a small business sector that way,” said Professor Bourne.

That chat formed part of the 51st annual meeting that the Bank started last week and which will run until July 1.

“I think that this is something that the CDB can help with,” Bourne indicated, while suggesting that the Bank and the CARICOM Secretariat can come together in brokering an international intermediation on behalf of Caribbean countries.

“Sometimes institutions like the CDB ... are better situated to interpret the intelligence and constraints to international agencies,” according to Professor Bourne.

He said that in this way, that approach can bring about greater concordance of views and action.

His comments came as commentators across Barbados and the Caribbean have maintained strong positions that the private sector has fallen short in helping to drive economic growth and sustainability, leaving everything up to the regional governments to do.

Bourne said that the private sector engagement in the region has to be more structured.