EDITORIAL: Making Barbados more competitive

WITHOUT much fanfare, the Bds$24 million Barbados Electronic Single Window (BESW) was launched last week.

The BESW facilitates the electronic submission of standardised international trade and transport related documents to a single point. It will cut out a lot of the paper work involved in transactions, and eliminate the need for the physical distribution of over 30 000 trade related licences, permits and certificates.

Last November both Terry Bascombe, who coordinated the project, and his deputy, Delano Scantlebury, said that they were well on the way towards implementing this system, which they noted would bring enormous benefits and improvements to the way how business is done. Both officers had spoken to the extensive work involved, including the training across key areas in the public and private sector.

The BESW is part of Government’s programme to drive efficiency across the economy and confront the low rating the country has received in the last two World Bank Doing Business Surveys.

Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Honourable Christopher Sinckler, indicated at the launching ceremony that multiple benefits are expected from this system. These include an improved electronic government platform; the enhanced collection of taxes, duties and penalties; higher levels of efficiency and transparency; and increased conformity to regulations, including international trade treaties; and improvements in regulatory enforcement.

While the Minister acknowledged that it is unrealistic to expect instant results from the system, a point with which we agree, it would however be important to note that it begins a process which will bring long-term benefits to the country.

The World Bank Doing Business Survey comes to mind. This has been one of the issues raised repeatedly in the continuing discussions and commentaries about the lack of competitiveness in some sectors in Barbados, which also relates to the low level of productivity. In fact, the latter has now become a real talking point across both the public and private sectors.

Barbados has fallen down in the areas of the slow pace with which the government bureaucracy operates. There is the subject of low productivity, the unavailability of financing for business start ups, the time it takes to register a business in Barbados – factors which prevent the country from getting a high rating.

We also note with interest the comments made by Chris De Caires, who has long maintained that improved productivity is a project for management (in the public and private sectors). He, like others dealing with this topic, believe that more training in the workplace is required; there must be greater employee engagement; and workers need to feel that their input in the organisation is acknowledged and recognised.

Estimates by the Central Bank of Barbados have noted that once these things are done, there is a better chance for the economy to register improved growth, which will help to cut away at both the high debt and the deficit, the reduction of which is one of the targets of current economic policies.

The aim is also for government to assist in bridging the digital divide between those with computer technology available to them and those who do not.

It is a good start to what is required in Barbados and it is hoped that come 2018, the country will see improvements in key areas from this programme.