The government is looking at introducing a national system to track and improve productivity across key sectors, as part of efforts to strengthen economic growth, make business operations easier and attract greater investment, planning minister Marsha Caddle has told Barbados TODAY.
Caddle disclosed that she has already held preliminary talks on the initiative with the Growth Council, as the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers held a post-budget forum and panel discussion at the Hilton Barbados Resort on Wednesday.
Her comments came on the heels of a recommendation for such a system made during an earlier speech to the same forum by head of the Chamber of Commerce, Paul Inniss, who insisted that while Barbados does not lack ideas for achieving growth and development, it often lacks delivery.
“We need a scorecard,” Inniss told a gathering of business executives. “Not a scorecard for blame. A scorecard for delivery. A scorecard built on SMART goals, with a one-year horizon and quarterly reporting points, so that the country can see clearly what was promised, what has been achieved, and what is still outstanding.
“Because if we say we want to improve the ease of doing business, then we must be prepared to measure that. If we say we want greater efficiency, stronger productivity, Bridgetown renewal and better resilience, then those commitments must move beyond speeches and into visible benchmarks.”
The Chamber president suggested that that is how confidence and credibility are built, and how the country moves from intention to execution.
In response, Caddle expressed full support for the proposal and went further to add her own perspective to complement the business sector’s concept.
“I would definitely support that. I would support some kind of ticker or something that says, collectively, this is how productive we are as a country, in a range of ways… whether that is transport, whether that is workers, whether that is technology,” she said.
“I think that is something that can be supported. I have had initial discussions with the Growth Council on it, and it may be something that we see.”
The Chamber of Commerce president had also suggested that the kind of economy which the country must actually build is one anchored in “the real, day-to-day experience of doing business in Barbados, and not just on paper or in headlines.”
While conceding that Barbados has made progress through greater stability than a few years ago and shown real resilience in some areas, Inniss complained that many businesses are still not feeling progress in the way they should.
“They are still carrying high operating costs. They are still dealing with delays, inefficiencies and friction in too many parts of the system. And they are still trying to compete, invest and grow in an environment that remains harder to navigate than it needs to be.”
Inniss added: “That is the gap we need to close. Because growth in the abstract is not enough. If the economy is improving, then the experience of doing business must improve too. It must show up in productivity. It must show up in responsiveness. It must show up in how goods move. It must show up in energy reliability and cost. And it must show up in whether businesses can operate with confidence.”
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