Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Sandra Husbands.
THE changes to be made to the Catastrophe Fund will help to keep
businesses afloat, and Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade
Sandra Husbands says the country will stand a better chance when the
recovery starts internationally.
She made the comments during the debate in the House of Assembly on
Tuesday afternoon on the Catastrophe Fund Bill, to provide financial
support to eligible persons and qualifying businesses in need of such
help because of a catastrophe.
“COVID-19 actually present an opportunity for pushing a major reset
button and those businesses who are going to apply to the Catastrophe
Fund to be able to get resources to stay alive, it is necessary, not
just to take the money and run, but rather there is a need for a new
national consciousness about how they go about doing their day-to-day
business. That they must now focus on doing business in such a way as
to promote the common good, so as to generate the economic energy that
is needed for the recovery of our economy out of this dust,” she
stated.
Minister Husbands is adamant that businesses which will benefit from
the Fund, should recognise that part of their survival depends on
other businesses being able to employ people and those persons having
disposable income to spend. As such, she is calling on companies to
help out their fellow local businesses.
“...When a purchasing manager is making decisions about where he is
going to take goods and services from; when a general manager is
making decisions about who will be his suppliers, it is imperative
that these businesses focus on buying local first – that they look at
the products that are made in Barbados, the services that are offered
in Barbados... By helping every other business to get back on its
feet, they are actually creating the economic growth that would allow
for further prosperity of their own businesses,” she stated.
The Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade continued, “The more
people who are working, the more people who are spending, the more
that business would benefit because the economy is thriving and it is
recovering.
Husbands added that along with the national consciousness, there must
also be a “pivot” that focuses also on the well-being of the wider
region. She made the point while noting that the success of the
countries in the region is vital to this country’s survival. Referring
to trade within the region, she said it is recognised that Barbados
benefits from the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. She revealed that
our economy benefits from over $300 million because of capacity to
send goods and services into the countries of the Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM in general.
“Therefore where goods or services are not available in Barbados,
businesses as a part of their pivot to support economic growth should
then look to the region to find their suppliers. This may mean
shifting the consumer from certain goods to other brands – that is not
impossible,” she stated.
Husbands added, “If we as citizens and consumers and businesses
together recognise that we have a common destiny, and recognise that
if we are able to support each other throughout this COVID era, that
we are going to create the conditions for our survival.”
She made the point while contending that the region must recognise and
appreciate that no one is coming to rescue us, and we therefore have
to rescue ourselves. (JRT)