This week, on a beautiful property owned by the Mariott family of the USA, I went into a store to look around for something to take back home for my children. First, I picked up a T-shirt–handmade. "Is this made here in St Kitts?" I enquired. "No. Brazil," came the response. At the counter I noticed some hand-painted, wooden rings–things I think my young boys might like. "Are these made here? I asked again, wanting something unique and native of the island. "No, I get them from the States." Pause. "St Kitts is only 66 square miles, you know. We cannot manufacture everything," came the somewhat edgy retort from the blond woman whose German-sounding accent became more Caribbean sing-song the longer I stayed in the shop. That set me thinking. Of course, the people of the Caribbean cannot supply for themselves all the services and goods they need. No country can.
That is how the theory of comparative advantage was born. Even the mighty US has been running trade deficits–ie importing more than they export. More than that, there is the question of human capacity. With a collective population of fewer than 5.5 million people, the English-speaking Caribbean with its regional and national bureaucracies and private sector to sustain, is going to need some level foreign intellectual and technical expertise–not to mention significant capital–to achieve and maintain true, meaningful development. We certainly have a lot of human capital in T&T. I, for one always argue, that, per capita, we have superior talent in several fields. However, just as it is not practical to expect all the services and goods which we require to engage and prosper in the world as it is, so too it is not practical to expect that we can reach our full potential if we seek to keep all foreigners out. So, though I too would have preferred a local to a foreign Police Commissioner if we want results as manifest in the better delivery of quality services and goods, we have to accept that some foreign input will be necessary.
On the flipside, this reality of the present-day, global economy means that our nationals in the energy services sector are employed around the world. This reality is why Peter Minshall could design and produce the Opening Ceremony for an Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. It's why the 'Smiling Assassin', Dwight Yorke, could have dominated the top football league in the world. While we will always need and should welcome some level of foreign participation in the economy and in the workforce, we, the people of T&T through our government, must set the policy framework which will ensure that the input of foreigners in our society at any level, is indeed beneficial to us. Wherever we decide to use foreign expertise, we must ensure that we have a plan to develop local capacity in that area. The cross-fertilization of ideas, differences of perspective and breath of unique experiences, which people from other countries will bring should, on balance result in benefits.
However, we must decide on the areas which we want to develop and take real steps to create the environment which will be attractive to talent from around the world. Through the universities, we should be doing everything possible to lure people who are engaged in cutting-edge research in their fields and have them come down to T&T to collaborate with locals. For example, a researcher can be required to supervise PhD students in their field. In industries where additional or specialist capacity is needed, we should implement policies to ensure that there is knowledge transfer and capacity development. To do this, some monitoring mechanism is required. With regard to our Caricom brethren, the issue is more complex. Committed as we are to the Caricom Single Market (and one day economy), we have to assume a leadership role in the region to drive the implementation of the process and the development of systems and mechanisms which work.
This will go a long way to ensuring that regional brain power is not being drained but that there is a wider pool in which it can circulate. Simply, my point is that while we talk about opportunities for locals, we must be both practical and strategic. The controversy surrounding the (likely) appointment of a foreign CoP should be used as the catalyst for a sector-specific discussions on where we are, where we want to be and what we need to do (including the resources which we require) to get there. If this is done properly and the end product is the result of widespread consultations, we are likely to be on a track that will increase local capacity while still leaving room for foreign participation. This, if managed properly and implemented strategically will result in more development and a better quality of life for the people of T&T. Who, though will be bold enough to address the issues head on?