T&T may not be a "basket case," but it still needs to improve its uncompetitive economy. This is the view of Bhoe Tewarie, Minister of Planning, Economic and Social Restructuring. "The story with us is that we are not a basket case, we are not badly off, but we could do a lot better because we do have the basis on which to do better. Whether you look at the natural endowment, the education structure, we can do better. That's the whole point of trying to make the country more competitive. "Competition is not an option; it really is our imperative. We are seeing that competitiveness is a requirement for sustainability.
Competitive businesses are those with high levels of productivity which has a positive impact on the economic and prosperity," he said. He referred to the 2010 to 2011 Global Competitiveness Index, which T&T placed 84 out of 139 countries. "Look at other countries and how they compare to us. Chile, which is not different from us, ranked at number 30, Barbados ranked at 46, Costa Rica at 56, Jamaica at 95. Well, we not doing as bad as we did in 2008 and 2009, we are getting a little better, but we are nowhere near Barbados or Costa Rica," he said. Tewarie was speaking on June 22 ago at the Fourth Biennial International Conference on Business, Banking and Finance at the Hilton Trinidad hotel, St Ann's.
Education/labour
Tewarie said the education system and labour market are out of touch with each other and need to be related. Twenty per cent of University of the West Indies (UWI) graduates from the 2009 to 2010 class remained underemployed after one year of graduating. "They were underemployed. They were doing jobs which other people could do that you really didn't need a degree for. That's a very high figure. That means there is a mismatch between the curriculum and the labour market to absorb the graduates. That's where the synergy needs to be created between the educational sector and capacity of the economy." He also related that the Ministry of Public Administration sent 12 national scholarships to his ministry.
"Some were trained at the UWI and others were trained abroad. Why do I want all these national scholars? I want them because they are bright. I need their brains and their imagination and creativity."
Tewarie said the mix of fresh, young ideas with the experienced people in the public sector will help generate new ideas. The results of laptops in schools will not be seen now, but in the future, Tewarie said. "People make jokes about the laptops in schools, but in ten years' time, it will make a difference. You have got to make that type of connectivity with the systems of the world. We need the people coming out of the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of T&T (Costaatt) and UWI to start starting businesses instead of looking for a job and there are possibilities there."
Crossing borders
Tewarie said the T&T's economy "is not good" and its diversification is important. "The economy we have is not competitive. In order to transform that, you've got to get into services and into knowledge and into things that use your human talent. Move into things where we can employ natural assets beyond oil and gas." It is also important that the skills of the workforce be matched to the needs of the economy, he said. "The energy sector employs about four to five per cent of the population, very well paid, technically sound jobs acquiring high degrees of competence. Then services sector employs about 64 per cent of the workforce. There are about 631,000 people in the workforce in T&T." Tewarie said it is important that the Caribbean region as a whole becomes more productive and innovative.
"We cannot do it alone. We have to look at a creative, innovative region. There are industries that can easily cross borders. You can have a food industry that crosses borders, a tourism industry that can cross borders, a financial industry that cross borders. We have to build an innovative capacity across the region because if something is strong and competitive in one place and weak and competitive in the other, the system is uncompetitive."
Government's Role
The Government has the responsibility to improve the business environment and make it business friendly, he said. "We should not stand in the way of people who do business." He added the Government must also build an education system that has a fit with the economy. "We must build a quality education and training system because that is the talent pool that the private and public sector draw from." Efficiency is what make companies competitive, he said. "Companies are productive when you have a good match between the skills of the people, the technical level of skills and you are producing at a level of effectiveness which is something taken for granted all over the world and that is the minimum requirement. Efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness are the minimum standards required."
He also said government policy must also be systematic. "The Government must also have a coherent economic strategy. We can't have one thing today and another thing tomorrow. People must be clear as to what we are doing." He urged the private sector to do more than just talking. "We need a private sector that is willing to put their money where their mouth is. Our strategy must change because the world is different. Instead of natural resources and relying on oil and gas, as we continue to do, we have got to rely on ideas also."