Noel Thompson, Gleaner Writer
PRASAD
THE MANAGING director of RBTT (Jamaica) Limited, Rodney Prasad, says that the bank is intent on maintaining a pan-Caribbean presence notwithstanding the bureaucracy encountered by RBTT in establishing its operations.
"Bureaucracy, hostile laws and regulations, restrictions in the free movement of people and other inconsistencies were regarded then by the RBTT Group as temporary irritants to disappear in the fullness of time," Mr. Prasad said.
The RBTT Group currently has an asset base of US$6.7 billion and operates 34 companies in 13 countries in the wider Caribbean and Central America, providing jobs for more than 5,000 people.
Mr. Prasad was addressing the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica luncheon at the Ritz Carlton in Montego Bay on Wednesday where he outlined his group's financial standing in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
SPONSORS
The function was sponsored jointly by RBTT, the Montego Freezone and Caribbean Producers of Jamaica.
Despite the challenges, said Prasad, the group's strategies and shrewd financial practice have reaped rich dividends. "It was this vision that led RBTT to invest in Jamaica." RBTT, he said, was aware of the crisis, which existed in the financial sector, and a fragile economy, following the meltdown in the 1990s. However, this did not deter the group from investing heavily because it had immense confidence in the Jamaican people, its business sector, the bank's customers and staff.
"We looked to the future and we invested. We were confident that the environment would rebound. We were also confident that we possessed the will and confidence in the banking sector and I think it is right to say that these objectives have been achieved," Mr. Prasad said.
Reflecting on the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market Economy and the Caribbean Community 20 years ago, Mr. Prasad noted that the RBTT Group had considered the region and the wider Caribbean Basin to be a single economic space and the countries within it, its home space.
Against that background, the group embarked on a programme of regional expansion and export of financial services.
Taken from The Sunday Gleaner, July 16, 2006
