ONE OF OUR BIGGEST PROBLEMS IS WASTING FUNDS ON BUYING FOREIGN PRODUCTS WITH HARD CURRENCY.
I SAY WASTING BECAUSE YOU JUST SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO BUY SUCH IF THE ITEMS CAN BE MADE HERE AND BE OF GOOD QUALITY AND PRICE.
EXAMPLE….MANY RETAILERS IMPORT FURNITURE FROM THE USA AND PANAMA, USING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OUR DOLLARS TO DO SO.
WHY SHOULD THEY BE ABLE TO DO THIS WHEN WE CAN MAKE THESE PRODUCTS HERE?
WE HAVE THE BNSI COMPANY HERE WHICH CAN GO TO EVERY MANUFACTURER IN BARBADOS AND GRADE THEIR PRODUCTS ON PRICE/ QUALITY AND SERVICE….ONCE THEY MEET THE GRADE THEN THIS PARTICULAR PRODUCT WILL NOW BE PROTECTED FROM BEEN PURCHASED OUTSIDE.
THIS CONCEPT ABOUT US TRADING WITH THE WORLD IS NONSENSE, WE ARE TOO SMALL TO DO THIS. IT HAS TAKEN THE USA YEARS TO REALIZE THIS AND NOW MR TRUMP IS STOPPING THIS BY IMPOSING HIGH TARIFFS AND KEEPING PURCHASES AT HOME. ENGLAND HAVE FOUND THIS OUT TOO , LOST THOUSANDS OF JOBS BY SEEING THEIR FACTORIES CLOSE DOWN AND ALL WORK BEEN DONE IN THE FAR EAST. ONLY RECENTLY HAVE THEY CORRECTED THIS AND BROUGHT BACK JOBS TO THE UK.
WE MUST DO THE SAME ONCE THE PRODUCT MEETS OUR BNSI STANDARDS. WE MUST SEE THE MISTAKE WE MADE AND NOW CORRECT IT.
YOU CAN GO ONE STEP FURTHER AND INSIST ALSO THAT FOR ANY PRODUCT TO BE PROTECTED THERE MUST BE TWO OR MORE MANUFACTURERS MAKING THE PRODUCT. THIS WILL PROTECT PRICE GOUGING IF THERE WAS ONLY ONE LEGIT MANUFACTURER.
WE MUST PROTECT OUR OWN FIRST AND MAKE BARBADOS GREAT TOO!
KEEP JOBS ALSO! KEEP US$$ HOME.
THANKS AND REGARDS
MARTIN RAIZMAN
In terms of local manufacturing , I do not think of myself as having any knowledge of the subject but just wanted to share some thoughts from what I have seen in some caribbean nations compared to us. Some caribbean nations I have been to I have found a lack of our products on their shelves. I would have seen Wibisco products and Banks products like Plus or Tiger Malts. Outside of these Barbados has a very small footprint regionally. Our local manufacturers fight for the few shelf spaces in our local supermarkets and stores but I wonder if any thoughts have been made to export. I believe they have been attempts but what has been the leading hindrance to our export market especially in the areas of food. For example I see many local versions of pepper sauce on our shelves but do we have too many for our local market? With each addition the pie gets smaller. Can some of these companies go into a partnership of some kind and through the local government agencies try to increase production for export to such nations. Local seasonings tend to be another area that i believe we can look into for export as well as they are many local brands on the shelves . I think if the many producers pool their resources together to meet export needs then maybe we can have viable products that can be exported to increase foreign exchange earnings. May be lofty thinking on my part but I believe we have too many players in some areas of manufacturing that could maybe be consolidated to produce not just a local brand but an international one.
A thought for maybe reducing some of our imports could be to see what we import that we actually produce here as well and for the numbers we import , see if our local producers and manufacturers can supply the need of the nation. For example our vegetables. I believe our government has the information of how much of each vegetable we import. So why not then approach our local farmers or put it out to tender requesting local farmers to be contracted to plant the amount of that crop that we would need to supply the local market . At the same time duties on imported vegetables should be such that it pretty much makes it senseless to import what can be readily obtained locally.
As I said before these are just my humble ideas and with more information maybe i can be enlightened as to why such measures may not be feasible at this time.
Best Regards
The cost of EXPORTING goods from Barbados is very high. There needs to be a mechanism to make it more viable to small export quantities, else we will never get to large quantities. The cost of labour is another issue which we can't do much about, so we need to be smarter - use technology to make us more efficient & allow us to produce unique products that people buy at premium prices. Also be smarter in communicating to farmers what is needed and when as well as pooling resources as tango 82 rightly said. Importantly, we need to be realistic and recognise that we can't produce what many others do and expect it to be competitive on the regional or world market.
Latest Post: Push Caricom and its various treaties Our newest member: yanyan Recent Posts Unread Posts
