We need a sun, sand, and sea makeover

Once upon a time, there were three relatively small countries, one in the Caribbean, one in Southeast Asia, and the other in the Middle East. All three were British colonies that became independent of Britain between 1962 to 1971 — Jamaica, 1962; Singapore, 1965; and the United Arab Emirates, 1971. Although different in culture, all three had the same commitment: To build their economies and improve the lives of their people.

In this race towards self-determination and prosperity — measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita — Singapore is currently ranked fourth globally, the United Arab Emirates ranked 12th, and Jamaica ranked 146th, representing a real GDP per capita of US$98,400 for Singapore, US$67,100 for the United Arab Emirates, and US$9,800 for Jamaica.

By comparison, the real GDP for these countries is US$561.3 billion, US$655.79 billion, an US$28.83 billion, respectively. Therefore, the average person from Singapore can purchase 10 times more than the average Jamaican.

Why are these countries succeeding and we are not?

The data confirms two main reasons:

(1) these countries have an unswerving commitment to universal quality education for all their citizens, and

(2) their economies are geared towards value-add exports.

On the other hand, Jamaica has failed to offer quality education to most of our people and has pursued an economic policy of import substitution and protection for the past 50 years, which only creates monopolies to benefit a few.

I have consistently stated that Jamaica will never have true prosperity if we focus only on creating and selling products for our populace of three million. Our import substitution policy needs to be replaced by an urgent value-added, export-driven agenda.

Jamaica must immediately capitalise on our extraordinary advantages. We possess natural beauty; creative people; soil that gives our food an incomparable taste profile; proximity to North America (the largest consumer market in the world); and geographical positioning to take advantage of Europe, South America, and Asian trade routes.

In light of these, Jamaica needs to go all in with tourism, culture, agro-processing, logistics, special economic zones, and financial centres.

Source: https://amp.jamaicaobserver.com/the-agenda/we-need-a-sun-sand-and-sea-makeover_245021