John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
HUGHES
DR. WESLEY Hughes, director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), has attributed the problem of poverty in Jamaica to the country's failure to develop and adopt strategies geared towards high value, technology-driven production.
"There is no future out of poverty unless we resolve as a nation to use creativity and entrepreneurial drive to produce high value products that are globally competitive. ... We cannot base our future on the production of commodities only and expect to create a wealthy society," he said.
Dr. Hughes, who was addressing stakeholders in the cattle sector at a three-day conference held recently at the Breezes Runaway Hotel in St. Ann, emphasised that "this is the only basis on which we can begin to pay workers high salaries to raise living standards." He said, "We cannot base our future on the production of commodities only and expect to create a wealthy society."
BUSINESS FAILURE
With the advent of globalisation, he said, businesses are certain to fail "if you are located in an industry that produces commodities that are dependent on Government protection and subsidies, using outdated technologies and has poor business strategies." He cited the centuries old sugar industry as one such industry, which he pointed out has not benefited from the long history of subsidies and protection.
The PIOJ director general, who is also the Government's chief economic adviser, noted that while we have practised some level of value added and technology driven production, it was not enough. He pointed out that Jamaica's industrialisations strategies in the 1950s and 60s had been based on a low-scale, low-wage approach towards development. This, he argued, had not benefited the country as the productive sector, which has embraced a commodity-based approach, is constantly forced to cut wages and labour in order to survive. "This is a recipe for persistent poverty (and) this strategy must be abandoned if we are to break the cycle of poverty," Dr. Hughs advised.
Commenting on the state of the country's agricultural sector, Dr. Hughes noted that the short-sighted developmental strategies practised by the productive sector was one of the main factors that has contributed to the downfall of the agricultural sector. However, he stressed that stakeholders must devise realistic goals and targets to develop a viable plan to attract private investment into the sector, as the government will not undertake to do it.
"It is private investment that is needed to jump-start the sector. The JLA (Jamaica Livestock Association) needs to effectively lead stakeholders who are able to bring all the private sector entities together and both argue and present effectively the case for investment in the sector," Dr. Hughes told the farming group.
