By Dr. Maurice Odle
A book review by Christopher Ram – Part 3
Odle moves abroad
Maurice Odle’s quintessential calling as an international technocratic public servant economist is narrated with a style identifiable to the layperson. He left Guyana in the year of Rodney’s assassination to join the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) in New York. Over his 17-year tenure with the UN, Odle became a key figure in shaping policies on transnational corporations (TNCs) in developing economies.
Odle operated in several roles and different levels contributing to flagship publications on regulating transnational banks and technology transfer; leading advisory missions to numerous countries, including China and various African nations; and playing a crucial role in discussions with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress about post-apartheid economic policies in South Africa. Odle did not try to exaggerate his own role or that of the UNCTC but the task of reconciling the apartheid economy into the wider world while attracting international investors into a highly charged political, economic and hugely polarised South Africa was discussed dispassionately, betraying his political experiences from Guyana.
Another highlight of Odle’s UN career was his instrumental role in establishing the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) in 1995, aimed at facilitating foreign direct investment in developing countries. He also featured prominently in the arrangements for the UNCTASD IX/Africa Connect’ conference in South Africa in 1996, aimed at stimulating increased foreign investment in Africa.
To ensure that he kept abreast with developments in academia while at the UN, Odle retained his earlier contacts and ties with academia, serving as an external examiner for tertiary institutions and participating in academic conferences. This allowed him the opportunity to evaluate in practice some of the emerging ideas and theories in international development economics.
This period of Odle’s career coincided with the global shift towards neoliberal economic policies, characterised by a strong emphasis on free market capitalism, deregulation, and reduced government intervention. It was the heyday of supply-side economics and monetarism of which Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were the apostles and the IMF and the World Bank the leading disciples. In Guyana, Hoyte became a convert with Jagan following suit, if reluctantly.
Return to the Region
Upon retiring from the UN in 1997, Odle returned to the Caribbean as a Technical Advisor to CARICOM’s Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) in which his principal focus was on two major negotiations:
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) for which Odle was responsible for negotiating investment and financial services on behalf of the Caribbean. The book describes the challenges facing small economies in areas like dispute settlement and performance requirements. After years of negotiations and preparation, the FTAA failed for the reasons set out in Odle’s book on page 123.
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union for which Odle was deeply involved in preparing background papers and negotiation briefs. He provides a critical analysis of the EPA, signed in 2008, suggesting that it has not delivered the anticipated benefits to the Caribbean. Odle cites experts like Norman Girvan and Havelock Brewster, who critiqued the EPA’s potential to undermine regional integration efforts.
Odle saw these initiatives through the lens of a heterodox economist from a country and region carrying the scars of slavery, indentureship and colonialism. Throughout the negotiations, Odle was mindful of the inherent inequalities faced by smaller econo-mies when negotiating with larger, more powerful entities.
The final phase of Odle’s career saw him serving as Special Eco-nomic Adviser to the CARICOM Secretary-General, focusing on deepening regional integration through the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
In that capacity, Odle played a role in authoring research papers on the interface between regionalism and globalisation, negotiating complex regional agreements like the CARICOM Investment Code and initiating the Caribbean Trade and Investment Report (CTIR), a crucial publication for informing policymakers about regional integration issues.
Odle’s account of this period is particularly enlightening, offering a candid assessment of the challenges facing Carib-bean integration. He cites issues such as low intra-regional trade, failure to implement agreed-upon policies (CARICOM’s Curse?), and the lack of political will among leaders as key obstacles to deeper integration.
His frustration with the challenges of intra-CARICOM negotiations faced by technocrats was barely disguised, confronting a suffocating level of bureaucratic obstacles and indecision by representatives of insular member states. In discussing his efforts to improve the information and publication policies of the CARICOM Secretariat, Odle complains about difficulties in securing support and resources for initiatives like the CTIR, highlighting the ongoing struggle to prioritise regional integration efforts.
Back to Guyana
Of course, Odle was literally at home in Guyana where the CARICOM Secretariat is located but the end of his engagement with CARICOM saw his reluctant re-entry into Guyana’s political sphere. Odle renewed his relationship with the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and when that party became engaged in Coalition politics with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), a coalition that included the WPA and other parties in 2015, Odle was appointed to several important positions.
The book details his experiences serving on various boards and committees, including:
The Tax Reform Committee: Odle chaired this committee, which was tasked with reforming Guyana’s tax system. However, the implementation of their bold recommendations proved politically contentious and the target of the then political opposition.
As a member of that Committee along with Godfrey Statia and Dr. Thomas Singh, I believe that inadequate communication of the rationale of the recommendations as well as their deliberate mischaracterisation is a good reason for having a non-partisan mechanism for future tax reform.
National Industrial and Commercial Investments Ltd (NICIL): As chairperson of NICIL, Odle faced numerous challenges, including conflicts with the CEO and issues surrounding land distribution and privatisation.
Odle relates a falling out with his former WPA buddy and comrade Dr. Clive Thomas who as Chairperson of the State-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation had accused Odle of “misleading the nation.”
Tax Ruling by the CCJ: Odle functioned as an economic advisor in a case involving environmental taxes on non-reusable beverage containers, highlighting the complexities of regional trade agreements and environmental policies. As an economist and regionalist, while Odle accepted the ruling, he expressed concerns that the Court had failed to acknowledge the Government’s defence of passing-on, leading to unjust enrichment of the private company from Suriname.
As one who was also a technical adviser to the Guyana Government in the case, I believe that Odle’s comment is more than valid and justified. Indeed, it is my firm belief that foreign companies seem to get the benefit of doubts at almost every level and forum in Guyana.
Throughout this period, Odle grappled with the challenges of governance in Guyana’s complex political landscape. He provides insights into the difficulties of implementing reforms, managing state assets, and navigating political tensions within a coalition government. Odle also touches on the emergence of Guyana’s oil industry and the establishment of the Natural Resource Fund, highlighting the potential impact on the country’s economy and the challenges of managing this new resource.
The fourth and concluding part will appear next Sunday in which I will offer my own take on the book.
