Dr Eric St Cyr.

The countries of the Commonwealth share a similar history, has this history led to similarities in their economies? Almost all present day Commonwealth countries shared British imperial history. This experience imparted to them all English as their common working language and the legal traditions and institutions accompanying Pax Britannia. Everywhere and at all times successful economic life and material progress presupposes orderly societies protective of life, liberty and property. Viewed from this perspective Commonwealth countries share basic similarities in their adherence to free enterprise and market determined economic systems.

To the best of your knowledge, have the paths of Commonwealth developing countries, since their respective independences, moved their economies away from their historical antecedents?
The accession of India to independence in 1948 initiated the addition of many so-called developing nations to the former British Commonwealth. Since their independence some of these countries, in their desire to accelerate their goal of economic prosperity, have tried alternative models of economic organisation—President Nyerere of Tanzania attempting a socialist framework, while nearer here President Burnham of Guyana and Maurice Bishop of Grenada did similarly. These aberrations have not been sustained. The basic paradigm of free enterprise market economies, with some state participation, has not been altered.
 
LEFT: A poverty stricken family in Africa.

Do other developing regions of the Commonwealth (Africa, Pacific, South Asia) exhibit characteristics similar to the Caribbean economies’ onshore/offshore dichotomy?
This question is germane. Economies function within their particular socio-historical-institutional contexts. So, the offshore/onshore dichotomy which we believe to be critical to the analysis of Caribbean economy cannot be applied wholesale elsewhere. Of course, all economies have traded and non-traded sectors depending in relative sizes to their resource endowments and their mode of insertion into the world economy.

But the Caribbean is unique in that its native peoples and institutions were cleared away, institutions of European design put in place, and people brought mainly from Africa andAsia and forcibly fitted to the goal of staple production for export. Unlike Africa, India, Fiji or Mauritius there are no native peoples or institutions of consequence left in the Caribbean—everything here came from abroad. Many Commonwealth nations were affected by the economic crisis.

In your opinion, can lessons be learnt through collaboration and sharing of experiences by leaders?
Yes, indeed, the sharing of experiences with the current world economic crisis can sharpen, even enrich one’s own understanding of one’s own problems. In this regard the upcoming meeting of Commonwealth leaders would be very useful. At bottom this is the power of the comparative method. A family shares its experiences and concerns to its mutual benefit.

How can outcomes from these meetings with the local and international business communities affect or determine valuable outputs for the T&T economy?
We now live in a global village and the rapid progress of technology intensifies this process daily. Markets for capital, goods and services are daily becoming denationalised. The preparedness of one’s population at large to beneficially participate in the world economy is becoming the critical determinant of economic welfare. The Commonwealth family, by serving as a stepping stone from nation to globe, can assist enormously in accelerating participation of all our peoples in world trade. There is for Trinidad and Tobago an affinity of large segments of our population to the rapidly growing economies of Asia and Africa, giving us a sort of “Trojan horse” advantage. This used to be thought of as possibilities for South-South trade and investment flows.
 
The Trinidad and Tobago economy is driven by the energy sector, can hosting these international meetings be a platform for economic diversification? (Through conference tourism for example).
I believe that at bottom Trinidad and Tobago’s need is less for “diversification” and more for “transformation” so that local enterprise can be set free to mobilise gifts and talents for production and sale of unique products and services to world markets. This is the now recognised distinction between “commodities” and “specialties.” Conference tourism is a mature, commodity-type product.

What we need to do is to capitalise our unique resources, efficiently produce and profitably market them overseas. In this respect a recent press interview with the newly-elected president of Pan Trinbago was refreshing. Joint ventures for capitalising, producing and marketing such products as are unique to us would be a boon on condition that the initiative is national and the surpluses generated accrue in bulk to domestic factors.

How can our economy benefit from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2009?
If this Commonwealth meeting could help to wean our population from its xenophobia and set us free to join aggressively in the world economic game as producers rather than consumers, CHOGM would have been a success. Obviously, contact between our businessmen and entrepreneurs and those of the Commonwealth would present opportunities for trade and investment.

The Commonwealth Business Forum brings together business leaders and academics from around the world, are there benefits to be derived? (through networking, matchmaking, product marketing, increased intra-Commonwealth trade for example).
This question warrants an unqualified positive answer. Brainstorming can be a catalyst to expansion of vision. Let us urge our business leaders to think globally rather than inwardly and to seek to earn from production and trade that prized commodity, foreign exchange.
 
You mentioned that the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh was your lecturer while you were at Manchester. What do you think of the reforms you former lecturer has enacted as first Minister of Finance, and later, Prime Minister of India?
Dr Manmohan Singh, as I recall, was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Manchester in 1960, and I was privileged to have him as my tutor in economics for a year. I could empathise with him as our concern was for the use of economic science in the liberation of our countries from the scourge of poverty and the shackles of exploitation. I feel sure that the miraculous change in the economic fortunes of India in the last 50 years must in no small measure derive from his technical acumen and the breadth of wisdom he brought to policy formation and execution. He continues to lead his country quietly upward on the long path toward prosperity, firmly based on the revolution in food production, the expansion of the home economy, the enhancement of the human resource and access to technology. I pay respect to my teacher.

Are there lessons to be learnt from India’s economic reform experience for the Trinidad and Tobago or Caribbean economy?
The lesson to be learnt from India is that economic transformation is a long term process based on generally agreed policies consistently sustained over an extended period. It might also be that a broad based agricultural revolution must precede an industrial revolution and together lead unto the technological highway. While the differences between Trinidad and Tobago and India are too marked to suggest copying of the latter’s methods, those broad principles suggest themselves.

How have you benefitted from the Commonwealth and why is it important for countries to utilise the services of the Commonwealth?
I have personally benefited from the Commonwealth Fellowship and Scholarship Plan by way of a three-year award for graduate study. This enabled me to establish a foundation for an academic career by which I have sought to serve the region in its human resource enhancement efforts. There are other critical areas of Commonwealth outreach one country to another, for example in technical co-operation, by which all 1.8 billion people inhabiting these 53 nations can benefit. 

An institution such as this would have been built up over decades. The Commonwealth remains a force for peace and good governance, a catalyst for global consensus building and a source of assistance for sustainable development and poverty eradication. Wisdom dictates that such a tried and tested organisation be supported, promoted and used by its members for their mutual benefit.
 
What advice would you give to scholars about taking advantage of opportunities in the Commonwealth?
The core values promoted by the Commonwealth, namely democratic institutions, good governance, respect for human rights, the rule of law, gender equality and pursuit of sustainable economic and social development, are of universal validity. Scholars everywhere would be well advised to seize every opportunity for sharing in a movement of people subscribing to and sharing these human values.