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The government is committed to restoring economic growth and stability by creating the enabling framework through which businesses can emerge and thrive.
Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Business Sandra Husbands said this growth would be achieved by developing and prioritizing policy reforms that will have the greatest impact on the private sector and managing limited resources to fund the design and the implementation of reforms.
Husbands was talking about the launch of the Business Management Research Think Tank (BMRTT) and Business Roundtable Forum at the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management on the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.
“For this reason, the Ministry of Energy and Business has been given responsibility for facilitating trade, increasing competitiveness and stabilizing commodity prices to boost employment and income generation. , while simultaneously promoting the provision of a fair and regulated marketplace,” she said. .
“It is understood that creating an enabling environment that fosters ingenuity and provides opportunities for all sections of the business community requires multi-pronged strategic implementation and involvement at all levels. This includes government, a cross section of the productive and educational sectors, and civil society.
The minister said the government was pursuing several initiatives to provide holistic support to the business sector, including the entrepreneurial class.
She highlighted one of them as strengthening the production and export capacity of the business community and the MSME (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) sector in particular, by developing the national infrastructure of Barbados quality.
Husbands noted that this initiative would significantly enhance the international competitiveness of Barbadian businesses and stakeholders across all sectors of the economy.
She added that seamless facilitation of business and cross-border trade was another cornerstone of the government’s agenda, as she spoke of the importance of Barbados’ electronic single window for trade.
“The Barbados Electronic Single Window will revolutionize Barbados’ trading system and make it easier for businesses and entrepreneurs to conduct business with greater efficiency by reducing turnaround times and transaction costs,” he said. she declared.
Describing the BMRTT as a “welcome boost to promoting economic development”, she said its implementation would strengthen Barbados’ business-friendly landscape, support productive industries and sectors and see the emergence of new untapped sectors that could boost business.
The BMRTT is a collaboration between the Private Sector Association of Barbados and the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management.
It will aim to identify and address the needs of the business community by facilitating high-impact research that will be used to generate positive change, such as improving business processes and developing industries and new sectors.
The BMRTT will, inter alia, identify critical business and management issues and issue clear, accurate and timely analysis; create a space for knowledge sharing and mutual learning for effective trade policy impacts and development results; and generate and increase investment from industry, donors and organizations in high-impact research that can ensure the sustainability of the country and the wider region.
