Dear Editor,
Our country would benefit more from the implementation of the philosophy taught by the old Navajo proverb “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. This philosophy ensures that future generations will have the knowledge to improve the financial independence of their families. Less reliance on governments for handouts, that may or may not be there, in the future, will help villages become stronger through the increase of self-reliance stemming from skills development to generate economic activity at the local level. Whatever comes from the government, in addition to strong infrastructure, access to finances, good health care and access to export market contracts, is icing on the cake.
All economic activity is sustained best via entrepreneurial activity that is nurtured and enabled by the Government. This increases employment, ensures increased use of local resources, increase innovation, and increase value creation via a strong multiplier in wealth generation. The local content approach being taken, provides opportunities to strengthen skills development. Some have argued that the government should not hand out funds to the population. If economic theory holds true, then the multiplier effect from providing access to finances will increase economic activity and strengthen local economies. The reduction in imports plays a role in ensuring the local economy benefits from the increased spending, otherwise the economic multiplier will have its stronger impact overseas.
As the government develops local infrastructure, the simultaneous capturing of export contracts in areas such as jewelry, furniture, agriculture produce, fishing, food products and clothing becomes more important. These are just a few examples, but as local skill development increases with its enabling infrastructure, the value-added products, ready for local and export consumption, will also increase. As these value-added products increase, the government’s priorities must shift to ensuring international standards are met via the implementation of a certification process where international standards are met. As more suppliers become certified, access to confirmed supplier contracts are essential to ensure demand is both generated and accessible.
Trade agreements, which is Government’s role, has to be a top priority going forward for demand generation to precede investment and supply generation. We must shift the mindset from ‘build it and they will come’ to ‘tell me what your future needs are and we will supply you with a guaranteed long-term contract’. As this path of economic development advances, it must be accompanied by a transparent bidding and supplier selection process. The government must play a stronger role in this process by using the economic philosophy that best suits our culture and stage of development. Assigning a minimum number of suppliers for each contract will also ensure supply risk is reduced and that local economic activity is not restricted.
Sincerely,
Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana