Oliver Clarke, (left) Chairman of the Gleaner Company and Past President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica(PSOJ) shares a joke with Finance and Planning Minister Dr. the Hon. Omar Davies (second left), businessman Chris Blackwell (third left) and Ambassador Peter King, during a break at the three-day retreat of Government/private sector interests at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay yesterday.-Patrick Campbell photoDenise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson will today lead the government into the second day of talks with private sector leaders, aimed at joint problem-solving in the areas of job creation, economic growth and development.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister opened the three-day retreat at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, calling on the private sector to take the lead role in the areas of job creation and investment. The first day of discussions has been hailed as successful, with frank and open discussions between the two groups regarding the state of the economy and crime and violence.
"I think we are all agreed on the broad responsibilities as shared by the government of Jamaica and the private sector, in what has to be a partnership for economic growth and development. At the same time it is also felt and accepted that in the market economy, which we are building, the private sector has to be the main engine of economic growth and the principal source of investment," Mr. Patterson said.
In the area of job creation, the Prime Minister said the government will be looking primarily to developments in the tourism, construction, agriculture and service sectors to accelerate the provision of jobs and spur sustainable levels of economic growth.
He added that the private sector could not shirk from its role to provide jobs within the enabling environment. He also noted that government could not provide jobs directly to reduce unemployment to desirable levels, as this would only result in huge public costs and the creation of makeshift jobs.
"We generally appreciate that it is not possible for the government to provide the jobs directly which will reduce unemployment to the requisite levels, because to do so it would have to add to the size of bureaucracy at greater public cost or engage in the provision of makeshift jobs," Mr. Patterson noted.
In her opening statement, President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Beverly Lopez, said the action plan must be transparent and should have specific timelines within which to achieve the goals set.
"By Sunday, we must arrive at an action plan with specific timelines to achieve our goals in a transparent and open fashion. This will demand great sacrifices of time and effort from all. Together all of us in this room can make it happen," Mrs. Lopez emphasised.
The aim of the discussions is to come up with an action plan to stimulate economic growth and job creation. Yesterday's session, which included presentations by Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, on anti-crime initiatives, and Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, on the state of the economy, was described featuring frank and open exchanges between the Ministers and the private sector leaders.
Speaking to The Gleaner last evening, Dr. Phillips gave a brief summary of his presentation, which highlighted the need for long term measures to fight crime.
" I took the opportunity to outline what had occurred between December to now, always emphasising that while there had been a reduction in the incidence of crime, that a long term reduction to acceptable levels of violence and crime was going to require much more than these short term initiatives, involving legislative changes, involving upgrading the capabilities of the security forces, much more equipment and the greater use of technologies," Dr. Phillips explained.
Managing Director of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Aubyn Hill, said he was impressed with the discussions.
I'm very pleased that the Ministers and the Prime Minister have been frank and the private sector has been equally frank and direct. We are at the point where the thoughts are going to be collected and will be put out in a program and will be monitored and measured," said Mr. Hill.
Hotel mogul and chairman of Air Jamaica, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, also had positive views on the discussions.
"We've had some very good talks and hopefully we can direct the discussions into rapid policy, because we are at a cross-roads that I think we need to do radical things to get positive change for the economy," Mr. Stewart noted.
Today's talks will see the Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, speaking on promoting investment, job creation and growth. Dr. Arnaldo Ventura, special advisor to the Prime Minister on science and technology, is also scheduled to give a presentation.
