Encouraging Employers

Twenty odd years ago, I spoke to and about the education system; its learning through rote, its certification via the regurgitation of facts, its lack of critical thinking and its punishment of innovation, resulting in the production of too many Employees and not enough Employers. A recent news report covered the launch of a post graduate programme, which is said to address such inadequacies, creating more employers, through links between academia and the manufacturing sector.

Foreign Direct Investment

At the beginning of the last budget presentation, a few weeks after national elections and the resulting change in the executive, Politics continued with the Minister of Finance painting a negative picture and blaming the previous executive with financial mismanagement, more so in their last three months in office; spending tax payers’ funds on electioneering, leaving massive unpaid bills and running into a negative cash flow position. It is worth mentioning that the Speaker of the House needed to bring order to the chamber several times during the budget presentation, indicating that the previous executive now in opposition were not pleased with many statement attributed to their 2010 – 2015 term in office. This trend is again expected after any national election which results in regime change but is certainly preferred and more acceptable than any Violent Insurrection.

Diversification fuels Opportunities

The vision is to reduce revenue dependency on any single industry or sector and hence, diversifying an economy is to generate an equivalent amount to balance revenue across numerous sources, as to spread and lessen the risks associated with one set of matrix.

Common mistakes are trying to replace strong currency earnings with income of weaker foreign currencies with less purchasing power. Exchanging one volatile industry for another; abandoning hydrocarbon energy, heavily dependent on international pricing, for a tourism gaming industry, which will only grow to depend on international funding. Moving from extraction into energy processing, transport into vehicle building and repairs, trade to light manufacturing, which have similar input/output factors, the value added offers minimal gains while the risk exposure remains the same.

Governance (An extract from Foreign Direct Investment)

A nation, the majority of its population, with a clear understanding of the structure and responsibility of society will benefit from lower crime rates, a fairer distribution of wealth, and many more people, for the right reasons, offering themselves for public office. An indoctrination takes place upon joining new (educational or work) institutions; outlining code of ethics and procedural guidelines to direct acceptable behavior and maintain order. The same is true to drive on the roads; regulations (laws) must be followed. Governance is even more important and necessary for nation building. Hence, the need for civics lessons throughout the voting population.

Economic Drivers (An extract from Foreign Direct Investment)

With energy and commodities international prices drastically declining and forecasted to fall even further, extractive industries especially petroleum exporting nations, must focus on other sectors and industries to generate its foreign earnings. A Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, responsible for monitoring, controlling and regulating the energy and mineral sectors, developed over the last century, cannot easily be replaced as the main earner, but the effort to do so must start NOW! Not just by investment in renewables but through a mixed of economic drivers.