THE EDITOR: Recently with forex shortages and the actions by workers on the port, our dependence on foreign imported goods and materials has come to the forefront – with up to 90 per cent of what we need having to be brought in.

As a small country it is inevitable that we would not be able to produce most of what we need, but when you investigate, a large amount can be sourced or produced right here.

This not only affects the buying public, but also our manufacturers as their need to import most of their basic materials hampers their ability to be competitive. To fix this the government should do two things: encourage heavy industry and aid farmers in selling their produce.

Firstly, with heavy industry it will be cheaper to produce the materials necessary for our manufacturers, such as steel mills, refineries, etc. This is the reason for China’s competitiveness since most of what is needed it produces, which helps to take advantage of lower wages.

One form of encouragement would be granting special tax concessions to companies on the condition that most of their output be sold here, or have sales to local companies be tax deductible from their profits.

Secondly, with regard to produce, in addition to ensuring farmers are free from the burden of taxation and dealing with the issues surrounding land registration, encouraging them to band together to process their crops would help in making local produce more attractive,and help to lower the cost of food. A good example of this is CGA (Coconut Growers Association) which was established to help coconut growers add more value to their crops.

Though there are many other structural reforms necessary to fix the problem, these would certainly help put us on the right path.

ANDRE ARAUJO

via e-mail

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