Review of Trinidad & Tobago Budget 2011/12: A budget adrift
The fundamental economic and political question is about the promised
economic diversification, birth of the knowledge society and the influx
of foreign investment into our promised technology, science and
industrial parks. It is as much a PNM promise as it is a UNC promise,
into which billions have gone with little to show for it.
Midway through his speech the Minister of Finance mentioned the country's 81st position in the Global Competitiveness Report 2011 but retreated from details. His "We can do better" cry is for an all-fours side down a few chalks; a nation flirting with economic danger needs much more.
If the Minister had spent five minutes on that report the country would have known that the major threats to business in the country are not illegal diesel and the lack of CNG stations. It is crime, theft, government bureaucracy, poor work ethic and corruption. It is also the issue of the efficacy of corporate boards, trust in politicians and favouritism in the decisions of government officials. The country's competitive advantage, a critical lever to pry open the doors to investments, ranked 124 out of 142 countries.
A decade ago the country needed to get its act together, the problems having been measured, weighed and recorded. It needed to know how it will compete in an environment in which massive capital is lifted from the most industrialised nations and parlayed into emerging economies of significant size, capacity and capability.
What will
natural gas, sun and carnival do for us when the world we are promising
to dress up for is not there when we arrive in island time?
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| Finance Minister Winston Dookeran |
Midway through his speech the Minister of Finance mentioned the country's 81st position in the Global Competitiveness Report 2011 but retreated from details. His "We can do better" cry is for an all-fours side down a few chalks; a nation flirting with economic danger needs much more.
If the Minister had spent five minutes on that report the country would have known that the major threats to business in the country are not illegal diesel and the lack of CNG stations. It is crime, theft, government bureaucracy, poor work ethic and corruption. It is also the issue of the efficacy of corporate boards, trust in politicians and favouritism in the decisions of government officials. The country's competitive advantage, a critical lever to pry open the doors to investments, ranked 124 out of 142 countries.
A decade ago the country needed to get its act together, the problems having been measured, weighed and recorded. It needed to know how it will compete in an environment in which massive capital is lifted from the most industrialised nations and parlayed into emerging economies of significant size, capacity and capability.
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