A SOMEWHAT controversial report on the assessment of Jamaica's economic situation and recommendations for changes to the development options being pursued by the Government, is expected to be unveiled within a month, according to an international consultant hired by the United Nations to undertake the study.
The consultant, David Bloom, Professor of Economics and Demography at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the team involved in the study has covered a broad range of issues such as poverty alleviation, but he has so far declined to comment on the diagnosis, suggesting that he will do so next month.
Noting that they have looked at the disparity between the economic boom Jamaica experienced in the 1960s as against what currently obtains, Professor Bloom said, "We are grounded in the past, but we are not focused on that, we are looking to the future."
He was speaking at a press briefing at the United Nations offices, Lady Musgrave Road, St. Andrew yesterday.
The study, entitled "Globalisation, Liberalisation and Sustainable Human Development" in Jamaica, was organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Professor Bloom is leading the team carrying out the country assessment of Jamaica. Among other members of the team are Gavin Chen, former president of the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ), and Dr. Damion King, a lecturer at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). The team has been focusing on macro-economic conditions within Jamaica, its trade options, investments and sustainable human development.
The findings of the team will be presented to Government representatives and members of the business community during workshops tentatively set to be held in Kingston and Montego Bay on February 20 and 21, respectively.
Professor Bloom, in explaining that the programme is aimed at enhancing the ability of developing countries to manage their integration into the global economy, said part of the focus of the study "is the recognition that there are alternative approaches to national development."
He said that while globalisation offers great benefits, so far those benefits have not been delivered to countries such as Jamaica. "We have to think of a way to make the globalisation process work to ensure that the benefits are delivered to Jamaica, and not just to the elite in Jamaica, but throughout the population," the consultant said.
Professor Bloom said the report is meant to be "somewhat controversial", and that it will provide, "some fairly deep assessment of the situation that Jamaica is in, and how it got to where it is. But more than focusing on the past, we want to plan for the future and that involves some fresh thinking in areas related to the people side of development, as well as the macro and international policy side."
