Barbados, 22 SEPTEMBER 2005
Details and Press Materials
The UNDP Barbados-based office which serves ten (10) Eastern Caribbean countries, Barbados www.barbados.gov.bb and the OECS www.oecs.org, in partnership with the Caribbean Export Development Agency www.carib-export.com hosted a Private Sector Consultation on 22 September 2005. This UNDP sponsored Consultation was one of two events organized to mark the Barbados Launch of the UN Commission on Private Sector and Development Report: Unleashing Entrepreneurship, Making Business Work for the Poor.
The other was the UNDP sponsored Business Seminar titled, "Opportunities for Cultural Services within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)". This seminar, held on 24 September 2005, was one of the feature events of the 2005 Caribbean Gift and Craft Show (CGCS), held from September 22-25, at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in Barbados. This Caribbean Export sponsored Craft Show, which celebrated its twelfth anniversary, brings together over 200 exhibitors and businesses from the CARIFORUM region and the Association of Caribbean States, as well as 300 regional and international buyers.
The UNDP Consultation attracted participation of over sixty Private Sector and Government representatives from Barbados and three Eastern Caribbean countries ~ Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada and St. Lucia. Other participants included USAID, OAS, DFID, and EU representing the donor community with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Caribbean Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Inc representing regional agencies. The media, academia and UN agencies were also represented. A full list of participants is attached at Annex 1.
The Resource Team for the Private Sector Consultation was led by the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Rosina Wiltshire
Mr. Sabha Sobhani, Project Manager - Commission on the Private Sector and Development
Mr. Henrik Skovby, Consultant to UNDP
Ms. Kristen Barney, Vice President for Operations, Millennium Institute
Ms. Grace Ng, Vice-President, International Trade Institute of Singapore (ITIS) whose participation was funded participation by UNDP. Presentations included key elements of the Singapore development model as well as the promotion of UNDP's Growth Accelerator and Threshold 21 (T-21) modalities.
A brief Opening Session started the Consultation with Welcome Remarks by Ms. Rosina Wiltshire, UNDP Resident Representative and Opening Remarks by Mr. Ewald Refos, Chairman, Caribbean Export Board and Director of the Manufacturers Association of Suriname began the Consultation. Mr. Sahba Sobhani, Project Manager, UN Commission on Private Sector and Development commenced working sessions of the Consultation with a presentation on the UN Commission on Private Sector and Development Report: Unleashing Entrepreneurship, Making Business Work for the Poor.
He noted that the critical advocacy work of the Commission in emphasizing that the UN recognizes the vital role that the private sector plays in development and poverty alleviation. By creating opportunities for employment, income generation and growth for the poor, the private sector is meeting the needs of poor people by providing services and products that are often outside of the reach and delivery scope of public services.
Mr. Sobhani explained that the various components of the private sector can be viewed as an ecosystem with inherently critical linkages. In many countries, there are constraints that hamper the effective functioning of the private sector and there is urgent need in most developing countries to forge stronger linkages and greater cooperation between varied private sector entities. The lack of competitiveness among a few SMEs and widespread informality are some key constraints. The recommendations of the Report provide a blueprint to counteract these limitations and facilitate an enabling environment for private sector growth. It was further noted that the existence of rule of law is central to successful enabling processes. He further stated that most private sector developmental activities are below the radar screen; however, these activities offer great promise for sustainable market-based replication. The challenge is to bring greater visibility and replicate these efforts without much government intervention in their normal operations. The report contains a number of specific action oriented recommendations that can be undertaken:
In the public sphere,
In the public-private sphere,
In the private sphere,
Ms. Grace Ng, ITIS Vice-President, delivered a well received presentation on Singapore: Successful Economic Development. Ms. Ng highlighted the fact that Singapore's dramatic economic development has been achieved through a phased process of learning and adaptation and gave illustrations and detailed information of the early phases pre 1960 Entrepot Trade era, the 1960-1964 Import Substitution policy, 1965-1979 Export Oriented Industrialization. The period 1965-1979 was characterized by a number of achievements and growth averaging 10% per annum and an unemployment rate which was reduced to 3.3% in 1979. The manufacturing sector's share of GDP grew from 15% in 1965 to 27% in 1979. The period 1979 to 1985 was one in which the country undertook industrial restructuring in order to mitigate economic challenges.
Development strategies during this phase included adoption of a wage correction policy, renewed emphasis on manpower development through education and training and encouraging automation, mechanization and computerization. Through a process of dialogue and negotiations, wages were lowered and renewed interest was placed in training and skills development.
Ms. Ng emphasized that though the country has endured challenges, economic growth has always been positive. During each phase of its development, measures have always been put in place to reduce negative impact. Singapore has recently focused on becoming a Knowledge-Based Economy with specific sectors targeted under this initiative. These sectors include electronics, education, communications, media and healthcare. Ms. Ng emphasized that successful economic growth can be achieved with strong national commitment and adopting holistic, integrated and systematic approaches. Furthermore, stakeholders must have the ability to shift focus and strategies to meet challenges in international environment. For developing countries, good public administration and a commitment to human resource development are essential. There must also be a close private-public sector relationship existing for successful development to occur.
Ms. Kristen Barney, Vice President for Operations, Millennium Institute presented the Threshold 21 (T21) Pilot Application for Saint Lucia. The T21 is a powerful analytical tool that derives its value from a capacity building process. Ms Barney explained that the model is based on the concept of system dynamics which captures linkages in complex systems so users gain insight into their systems. The concept of system dynamics is heavily used by multinational corporations and the presenter emphasized the point that developing countries can also utilize this tool. It was noted that T 21 is a model that addresses international consensus on sustainability planning. It encourages open discussion among multiple stakeholders and allows for the capture of national vision/strategy/goals in a set of key indicators. In the context of SIDS, key issues such as reducing oil dependence, designing the economy for quick recovery from natural disasters and reducing vulnerability to shifts in trade agreements can be analyzed.
The T21 model provides an opportunity to link private sector development to the Millennium Development Goals. Ms. Barney noted that one of the major advantages of T21 is its flexibility. It can be customized to include the specific issues that individual countries deal with. The presenter relayed the endorsement of a planning official from Malawi who commented that Malawi used the T21 methodology to build its proposal to the IMF and in so doing was the first country to use a non-IMF model and get its proposal funded. In the case of St. Lucia, T21 it was proposed could become a powerful tool linking with Growth Accelerator project. There are a number of draft indicator areas within that country that would facilitate the implementation of the T21 model for achieving sustainable development.
Mr. Henrik Skovby, Consultant to UNDP presented on Private Sector Development approaches, Country Experiences and PSD Proposal: Growth Accelerator Modality. He noted that fundamentally there is no contradiction between what is good for business and what is good for development. Furthermore a healthy private sector can be the engine that drives development and assists countries in improving economic conditions, achieving the MDGs and generating sustainable development. Since there are inherent strengths and weaknesses in both the private and public approach to development, what is needed is a marriage of the two approaches that adopts best practices as a means of accelerating growth. Mr. Skovby listed Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Dubai as key success stories in the implementation of Public Private Partnership Models.
It was noted that the development of the Growth Accelerator approach requires a solid foundation and analysis that allows stakeholders to identify opportunities and assess potential impact before determining the appropriate response. Mr. Skovby stated that St. Lucia presents a good country model for a pilot Growth Accelerator project in SIDS as the Government is committed to integrated, long term planning. There is an organized private sector that capable of participating in such a process.
Two question-and-answer sessions facilitated relevant exchanges of experiences between the participants and resource persons. The issue of what systems can be put in place to address cultural and psychological barriers to change was raised and Mr. Skovby responded that education is critical as illustrated by the Singapore presentation.
In her closing remarks, Ms. Wiltshire stated that thanks to the human development model of UNDP, it is now widely accepted that people have to be at the centre of economic growth for sustained development and to achieve the MDGs. She further stressed that public-private partnerships are vital to the robust development of the Private Sector. She noted that UNDP Barbados is committed to both being an advocacy partner and a facilitating partner for to promote new and non-traditional partnerships. These partnerships must be periodically evaluated on the basis of results-based outcomes.
In this context, a number of potential follow-up actions were discussed at post-consultation sessions and a lunch hosted by the UNDP Resident Representative with interested stakeholders from Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda. These include:
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A UNDP Barbados facilitated Private Sector Community of Practice for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean to engage national and regional private sector stakeholders with NGOs, civil society and Government. This network would champion reforms, set standards and promote sustained implementation mechanisms. This Grouping would also create conceptual space and advance content and debates on SIDS and pro-poor macroeconomic policy choices at national and regional levels.
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Substantive networking promoted by the Private Sector COP and supported by knowledge management tools such as improved documentation, monitoring, evaluation and exchange of best practices of Public-Private partnerships.
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Promoting the allocation of private sector funding and resources for an Enterprise and Innovation Fund to support the implementation of new mechanisms and training inputs to mainstream public-private partnerships and civil society perspectives.
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St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda communicated strong interest in national consultations based on the draft Growth Accelerator Project Documents to inform the development of programmes that take account of specific country situations.
Press
22 September 2005 Print Press (PDF)
22 September 2005 Print Press (PDF)
UNDP's calls for regional Alliance - Sunday Sun
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