THE EDITOR, SIR:
THE EMERGENCE of globalisation is not based on arrangements, like the CSME, between countries. Globalisation is based on the existence of products and/or services present in one location which are sought in another location.
In an effort to effect a smooth exchange or transferral of these products and services, arrangements, like the European Union (EU), North America Free Trade Association (NAFTA) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) are put in place. Those who tend to benefit most from these arrangements are those who have the most to offer. What this means is that if you have very little to offer, you have very little to gain. What does this say as it regards the CSME?
The CSME offers no more advantage to Jamaica than are already existent in our present package of products and services which we have to offer foreign markets. I am, therefore, not enthused about its creation. What I feel needs to happen is that there must be a concerted effort to internationalise the output standards of our goods and services. At especially the tertiary level, there must be an intensification of targeted training of our professionals to penetrate specific job markets all across the globe. It could also be that with the training of these professionals we could attract investments which will ensure the increase of the employment rate.
Additionally, our education system must seek more to unleash the creative energies of our people, because this is where we are going to be able to compete. We need to observe that whereas in India there was the ability to mass-produce generic drugs, beneficial especially for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; patent laws are eroding that ability. This means that if we come with something new on the market we can enjoy exclusive producing/marketing rights for a time. And by the time the patent lifts we can come up with something else.
Our way out is innovation. If you are not convinced, just look at our reggae music. This is a music form coming out of the heart and soul of ordinary Jamaicans; Jamaicans who are typically from the ghetto, or at least of humble beginnings, who often have to give up a life of crime, or have to choose between a life of crime or a dependence on their creative musical abilities to advance themselves. Reggae today is big, is international, and is all Jamaican. We've accomplished this without the CSME.
WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY
The CSME at this stage, however, is a given. Let's work with it. We must understand, though, that it is not an end - it is only a means to offer what we have to the rest of the Caribbean. We put nothing in, we get nothing out. But contemplate this: With a world population of some 6.45 billion people, and CARICOM accounting for a mere 0.23 per cent with its 15 million people, how global do we intend to get by aiming at the CSME? I feel our sights must be placed higher, and the way to do it is to get better at what we do, and do some of the things we are not presently doing. There is a world of opportunity waiting for us, let's rise to the challenge!
I am, etc.,
CHARLES EVANS
charock01@yahoo.com
Manchester
