Possibilities for national development

by Maxwell Haywood 26.OCT.07

Just before the nation marks its 28th anniversary of independence, a vital issue was put to the nation by Jomo Thomas in his weekly column in the Vincentian newspaper. Jomo’s observations were recorded in two of his articles in the Vincentian newspaper of October 12 entitled “Will St Vincent and the Grenadines ever develop?” and October 19, 2007, entitled “The Triple Bottom Line”.{{more}}

Jomo touches on the challenges of economic and social development, and posed the question: “Will St Vincent and the Grenadines ever develop?”

For now, I want to contribute some reflections on that question posed by Jomo Thomas.

Let me strongly assert here that I have great hope that St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) will develop. The challenges and problems are enormous and difficult. However, the solutions to these problems exist!

Generally, it will take a democratic, transparent, just and equitable development approach at the global, regional, sub-regional, national, and local or community levels to make SVG develop.

Jomo essentially is critical of international trade because of the nature of its relationship with countries such as SVG. This is a correct attitude since trade, whether domestic or foreign, is an important aspect of both social and economic development. In his article, Jomo gets right to the heart of the situation when he states that development will not occur unless there is “a complete change in the world economic system that results in fair and balanced trade relations….a change that places people before profits.” Indeed, Jomo’s observation correctly reflects the reality of global trade. Much of what we do in SVG is conditioned by this reality.

Jomo’s assertion becomes more relevant when seen in the context of declarations made by global policy-makers. For example, on October 8, 2007, the Deputy Secretary – General of the United Nations, Asha-Rose Migiro, said in her statement to the United Nations General Assembly’s Second Committee: “Sharp social and economic disparities in the global economy continue to persist. These disparities negatively impact on our fight against extreme poverty, making our collective endeavor to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 an even harder task.” Countries such as SVG know very well what the Deputy Secretary-General was talking about.

For a very long time now, SVG’s economy has been tied to the global economy. To many observers, these linkages have forced the country into a vulnerable position. Its domestic production primarily has been directed to serve foreign desires and tastes. Despite the linkages between SVG’s economy and the global economy, the nation is yet to develop the productive capacity to serve the domestic, regional and global markets. Indeed, in terms of development, what do nations like SVG have to show after General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Uruguay Round, and all of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Conferences? In real life, nothing of substance in terms of genuine development has been gained. The living conditions for the majority of Vincentians have not improved satisfactorily. After all these years of SVG’s dependence on global trade, the nation’s social landscape is marked by poverty, unemployment, and weak economic growth.

Increasingly, it is becoming clearer to many people that the major challenge is how to get developing countries such as SVG integrated into the world economy on terms favorable to their development. Global consensus is gathering momentum for development issues to be fully integrated into international trade relations. Herein lies the opportunity for developing countries such as SVG to influence international trade policy in a way that would put these development issues firmly on the global agenda.

In this context, at the Governmental level of international negotiations relating to the WTO rules, several groups have been established among Developing Countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). These groups include the G20, G33, G77, and G90. With regard to international trade, the common aim of these groups of countries is to ensure favorable outcomes that are fair and equitable.

Furthermore, at the civil society level, the recent mobilization event in SVG around the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the ACP (African, Caribbean & Pacific) countries organized by Caribbean grass root organizations and international partners, including WINFA, CPDC and OXFAM, is an excellent example of mobilizing the voice of the people against external threats to their development. The Governments and the people of the Caribbean, of which SVG is an organic component, must be educated about these threats and the ways and means to address them. Moreover, they, the governments and the people, must act in cooperation with each other, and they must also act in cooperation with other regional and international groups and organizations to address these external threats. The world should know that the Governments and people of the Caribbean are fully united in the struggle for a fair and equitable global trade system.

While the challenges are great, the solutions are there to be utilized. If this happens, then SVG will be in a better position to use international trade as one of the critical instruments to effectively address its development needs.

In my next article, I will address the national dimensions of Jomo’s question: “Will SVG ever develop?”