The development process can be a virtual puzzle however, it appears that in all too many cases governments may not be sufficiently clear about what is or what they want their countries’ economic development narrative to be. Sometimes what may be intended to be objectives/goals are rather muddled/fuzzy ideas which may not be communicated to the general public with any clarity or generate effective responses/participation. It may be the case that sometimes “satisfactory” performance indicators are achieved even when less-than-clear and prudent policies/development paths are being pursued. Nonetheless, where this is the case, such “good fortunes” can at best be only temporary. What is required is a clear narrative. Conceivably, this might represent a “brand” which may be easily identified with and can provide opportunities for the development of appropriate policies (economic, social, political) and strategies. Such a narrative may enable a country to avoid approaches/policies which may be motivated by short-term expediency (political or otherwise).
Sectors
Formerly, agriculture dominated many economies. Today, the services sector accounts for between 60% and 80% of many economies. The tourism industry which can often be the main component of the services sector tends to include: Art & Crafts/Cultural Industries, Food &Drink, Hotels, Restaurants, Entertainment, Travel activity, Airlines, Cruise lines, Diaspora travel, Remittances/Banking etc. In most countries the tourism industry is constantly growing in significance. In the Caribbean, Off-shore banking and Diaspora remittances are of particular importance.
Generally, the tourism industry receives much attention from governments. What other sectors/industries deserve to receive more support from governments by virtue of their ability/potential to increase their contribution, in terms of employment creation, growth and social and economic development?
The Chinese are said to have a saying: If you want a country to develop, build roads. However, many activities (e.g. linking products to markets, workers to jobs, students to schools etc.) which previously relied almost exclusively on road to be undertaken, no longer do in today’s technological age. Although the road-development link is important, today this link may not be as strong as it used to be.
France is said to have relatively high productivity rates because of excellent roads and a good education system. Training (skills) and the use of technology produce high productivity.
Might it be possible that, in our search for a narrative to be focused upon for development that Training (skills), Technology and Tourism may be suitable areas? However, it is also important that this narrative takes account of a country’s endowments especially economic factor endowments eg land, labour (skills), resources, aspects of heritage etc which can potentially give a country a comparative advantage
over other countries.
The above scenario is likely to embrace what seems to be a growing consensus: that the global changes which are taking place and the problems which are being caused – supply chain, transportation/logistics, rising prices (food energy)/inflation etc have heightened the need to focus on : productivity, competitiveness and growth while prioritising investment in innovation and training/skills development. Whatever economic objectives and or sector narrative are decided upon, the importance of the need to build resilience in the operation and management of business/economic entities cannot be over-emphasised. This is important because it is believed that it is the paucity of resilience in business/economic organisations which are at the heart of the crises the world has experienced and is likely to experience in the future.