President-General of the National Workers Union, Rawlings Jemmot, says proper marketing strategies and a greater focus on trade must be on the front burner in 2010, if Dominica is to generate more revenue.
“Unless you have a marketing strategy, the country will never go forward,” he said.
According to the trade union official, failure to address “a serious trade deficit” in Dominica will result in trouble.
“You must have foreign exchange…If you have to produce, you sell on the market, and you bring a lot of revenue from exports and imports,” he explained.
Jemmot is also concerned about the level of exporting done by Dominica. He says the export of Bello products, for instance, are insufficient for Dominica’s economy.
“That cannot help the country,” he asserted. “What really helps the country now, is the informal sector who actually go out and sell their own goods; but they need to do it in a very big way. It is too small to bring foreign exchange. The informal sector needs help in terms of joining together as cooperatives and do the big things,” Jemmot explained.
“You have to look for a ready market or strike the balance of your trade. If the country doesn’t sell it to you, they should buy from you, so you’ll have a serious balance of trade,” the trade union leader underscored.
THEY ALL LOOKS FANTASTIC
I would love to see DEXIA’s comment on this,because they are supposed to haveformulated an EXPORT STRATEGY for Dominica
To DNO admin.
I agree with what the other readers have said here. DNO, is it possible for you to set aside a special category on the site where we can discuss ideas in a non partisan way(without the party political bias)?
We would not be ‘just talking’, we would be bringing our ideas and analysis to the relivant government departments. And maybe once a month we could invite the appropriate responsible bureaucrat to respond positively.
If there is any detail which is too sensitive to be divulged in public members of the group could e-mail each other privately. A sort of open source running of the country.
What do you think DNO? Can we give it a go?
DNO, at some point – hope sooner rather than later – could you post Mr. Rawlings’ statement in its entirety so that we can better analyze and give informed comments?
Thank you!
At first blush though, the tact taken by the President-General is economically sound. Any serious thinker of economic issues knows the way you grow your country’s economy and reduce your foreign debt is through foreign exchange.
Last Friday’s overwhelming victory by the Labor Party government should be seen as affirmation by the electorate of Mr. Skeritt’s leadership and its hope that at last, these next five years, Mr. Skeritt will place laser-beam focus on improving the economy through establishing laws that enable entrepreneuship and job creation.
Our new government should heed Mr. Rawlings’ warning, and yes, faithfully begin to engage the private sector, its representatives in the DAIC, stakeholders in the Dominican economy, and the trade unions on the way forward.
A concerned government woud immediately begin exploring ways of increasing production and output, increasing export, seeking a balance in trade, and ultimately decreasing our dependence on foreign imports.
Great ideas.
Thank u thank you, this is the sort of discussions we need to focus on. Great and realistic idea.
I am looking forward for more topics like this. Let us move forward now that election is over.
No more politicing on DNO.
Get all our ideas out now.