Gervase Warner president and group chief executive officer of Neal and Massy Holdings Ltd is warning all businessmen to get their act together as the country is in for more troubled times. Describing the troubling time ahead as “a storm,” Warner advised businessmen to take the lead role and desist from depending on the Government. Speaking during yesterday’s American Chamber of Commerce of T&T’s tenth annual trade and investment conference on governance, Warner said, “A storm is brewing and businessmen in T&T need to step to the forefront and stop shirking their responsibility and begin to prepare for the troubling times that are ahead.”
The conference, titled, Sustainable Economic Development: The Onshore Economy, was held at the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce head office, Westmoorings. “Many businesses have been accused of being either too passive because they do not want to rock the boat, while, on the other hand, some have been accused of being anti-Government. But its time to pick up the mantle and join forces to develop a ten- to 15-year long-term sustainable plan.”
He said businessmen in T&T have been able to weather the rough economic times, and some large organisations have even managed to come out with healthy balances, but it is not over. T&T, by extension, the Caribbean, is connected to the most troubled economies, he said. Pointing to the United States and its current financial crisis—high unemployment and a large deficit—and failing economies in Europe, Warner said businessmen must begin to act with a higher level of urgency, which they are not doing.
He stated while some large businesses continue to survive, it is not the same for small and medium entrepreneurs. The banking sector has also tightened on its lending policies and little borrowing is taking place. Indicating that there are telltale signs all around, Warner said some of T&T’s neighbouring islands have made the top ten list for the most indebted nations.
Barbados, he said, has a 172 per cent debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, Jamaica 136 per cent, Guyana 120 per cent and St Kitts 196 per cent. Warner said the unfortunate thing was that these countries look to T&T, “but we have been operating in our own bubble.”
