Presentation by THE HON. DAVID THOMPSON, PRIME MINISTER & MINISTER OF FINANCE OF BARBADOS at The Public-Private Sector National Consultation On The Economy

". . . once, when my feet were bare, and I had not the means of obtaining shoes, I came to the chief of Kufah in a state of much dejection, and saw there a man who had no feet. I returned thanks to God and acknowledged his mercies, and endured my want of shoes with patience . . ."

Sadi - The Gulistan,

I put myself this morning in your position and I ask myself "what would have motivated me to come out to this consultation this morning?" And what is it you would like to leave here having heard or having been reassured about?

I suspect when all the generalizations are over and we come down to the nitty-gritty, you each want to know, or be reassured, that Barbados will emerge from the current global economic crisis with all its ‘fiscal faculties' intact and that new and exciting economic and developmental opportunities will abound. I would like to be able to say to you this morning that you can rest assured that economic stability is our objective. I would also like to reinforce this by showing you this revelation in a crystal ball.

However, life is real! The current global economic crisis is also real...and there are no reliable crystal balls.

As Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, I have not to date nor will I attempt now to hoodwink you, or anyone in this country, about the serious and acute challenges we confront. Perhaps I don't use fashionable words like "catastrophe, crisis, doom, gloom and destruction" well. I know about human resilience and prefer to call it into action.

Nor will I attempt to do so in relation to the uncertainty that exists in relation to the timeframe and the extent to which sustained recovery is possible. So, again, the words "immediate, now, imminent" cannot flow from my mouth.

Barbados is blessed to have some of the finest intellects and managers at its disposal, we have harnessed your resources to minimize the fall-out and to hasten the turn around, and recovery we desire.

Look around this room and see the architects of our fiscal and economic salvation!

Those architects are not seated at the head table...neither are they seated in the first row of chairs. They are not seated in any particular corner or section of this room!

The architects and builders of our economic recovery are each and every one of you. I am under no illusion about the finite capacity of a leader, especially a Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. I am acutely aware that the correct signals have to flow from the Cabinet Room and ultimately from the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

However, if there is no buy-in and if there is no resolve on the part of stakeholders to effect this recovery and propel Barbados to the new and next economic level, all the speeches from this and similar platforms, including that of parliament, will be in vain. That is why I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all of you, who have taken the time and made the sacrifice to attend this session here today. By attending, you are signaling your desire and intent to report for national duty and to play your part in this national undertaking. It is for this reason that I have deliberately timed this National Consultation to precede presentation of the Annual Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure as well as the Financial Statement and Budgetary proposals.

This consultation today is not meant to be a talk shop or a public relations exercise. It is not an occasion to respond to critics or to pander to lovers. We have invited you here today because we value your input and we need your assistance. If I had all the answers to the economic problems confronting Barbados this morning, I would have addressed the nation last night and called an election tomorrow!

However, unlike some others, I do not believe there is any single brain in this country that is so blessed to possess all the formulas and approaches necessary to solving our problems. I repeat here and now that the challenges confronting our economy are not purely arithmetical in nature and therefore cannot, and will not, be solved by arithmetical theories alone. And I will deal with that shortly.

If a correct statistical or accounting formula were all that is required to solve our nation's problems, then issues of cost overruns to the tune of $750 million in the ten years before I assumed office would never have arisen.

If all that were required is the articulation of a particular approach or series of measures, then not only would Barbados be a model for all the world but also, would be the home of the 21st century Albert Einstein.

The point I am making is that we are intelligent people and we need to recognize that we are travelling in uncharted waters. If this is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, how can any single individual, born in the second half of the 20th century, be so gifted as to have the perfect and complete formula for solving a problem that has not existed in the lifetime of 90 per cent of the world's population?

The most reliable approach to tackling the issues that we confront is through rallying the collective will, intellect, talents and resources of our population and working together in earnest to bring about meaningful results.

And, more than all of that, to communicate!

In this room today is a perfect representation of the best Barbados has to offer at this particular time and I am hoping that by the end of this consultation we would have crafted a consensus for carrying this nation forward. You elected me as your leader...not your ruler! Therefore, I am here to lead you along the path that, collectively, we determine is best for Barbados...at this time.

However, Barbados does not and cannot operate independent of its environment. Our fortunes are influenced and shaped, in large measure, by global occurrences. Thus, it is important that before devising a homegrown approach and formula, we survey and reflect upon the international experience.

Members of Cabinet  (left to right) Minister of Transport and Works, John Boyce, Minister of Community Development and Culture, Steve Blackett and Minister of Environment, Water Resources and Drainage, Dr.Denis Lowe, at the Ministry of Finance, Telecommunication and Energy's Public/Private Sector Consultation on Economic Issues held today at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.