BUSINESS MONDAY - Sunrise industries way to go, says Ambassador Lynch
COVID-19 has demonstrated more than ever that the source of the revenue stream in the Caribbean must be further diversified.
This is the view of Barbados’ Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Noel Lynch, who joined a diverse panel from across the region during a virtual Town Hall Meeting hosted by the non-profit Authentic Caribbean Foundation recently.
While giving insight in Barbados’ response to the virus and commending the frontline workers and the people of Barbados for their efforts to date, he said there are some considerations to be made about the future of the economy.
“For too long we have been running on one or two planks that has been the mainstay of our economies, and the traditional productive sectors that we have got, we can do more to expand those sectors.
“Additionally, I believe that a greater national focus needs to be paid to food security and in creating new sunrise industries that can create new and different jobs for our people. This is going to be critical for our development. What better time than to do this than during this crisis? It is imperative that we identify new and emerging sectors that can propel and expand the economies of the Caribbean.”
Ambassador Lynch explained that sunrise industries are characterised by those in which physical access can be connected to the digital world and be converted for industries which are underpinned by data and technology.
“This may happen easily in our schools, to be able to train some of our youth, but the unemployed, the people who were displaced during this period is where we need to concentrate our efforts. How do we create a basis of retraining these people as quickly as possible to be able to do some of the things they wouldn’t traditionally have done?”
He suggested that international financial institutions, to which the Caribbean are familiar, should be at the centre of creating economic diversity, food security, resilient health centre, sunrise industries job creation.
“This is not going to be an easy time for any of us in the coming year or so, but I do think we have started the ball rolling,” he said.
As it relates specifically to the COVID response, he noted that there are a number of people who have expressed the view that it is either a health crisis or economic crisis.
“I believe it is a fallacy to think that there is a trade-off between the health care and the economy in this particular fight. I do believe they are both sides of the same coin. If you don't have a functional economy then you don't have the resources that you did before for health care.”
Lynch, a former Tourism Minister in Barbados, stated that tourism-led economies cannot lock themselves out from the rest of the world.
“Our focus has got to be how do we continue to work together. The economic aftermath of this particular crisis is expected to last maybe a year or more...From what the scientists have been saying, we may not be back to some degree of normalcy until maybe June. Anything that we need to do must be sustainable and sensible for the long-term and our countries need to be both psychologically and physically prepared to handle this.”
“The question that we need to ask is how do we reboot our economies? How do we handle a sustainable posture as tourism-led destinations for maybe a new protocols for travelling?”
He stressed however that when borders are re-opened, countries in the region must remain vigilant.
“Because if this thing is going to be with us for maybe even over a year it means clusters will pop up. How do you handle things like border control, contact tracing, isolation and treatment. We need to stay ahead of the curve and we need to invest even more in our people during this very difficult time,” he said.
(JH)