REPORTS

Summary of The National Competitiveness Council Report

• Define ourselves as a country

• Recognize that productivity sets a nation’s standard of living

• Measure and improve productivity efficiency and levels of service across the economy

• ​Create a culture of excellence in service in tourism and across the economy

• Assess the further potential of offshore education services

• Enhance use of technology at every level

• Reduce growing levels of crime

• Reduce political polarization and disunity

• ​Identify areas for non political national co-operation

• Address declining attitudes

• Address growing ill discipline

• Massive public awareness campaign to sensitize the public on above goals

• Embed these goals in the school curriculum

• ​Revive Basseterre Beautiful program

• ​Create Historic Basseterre zone by legislation

• Enhance beauty of rural areas and countryside

• Enforce clean up of unkempt private land parcels

• Modernise the public service

• Promote training in key sectors of the economy

• Upgrade CFB to a university

• Promote improved employer/employee relations but do not “entrench” employment as that will be counter productive and discourage investment

• Review system of corporate taxation

• Level the playing field for taxation of businesses​

• Rationalise tax holidays and other fiscal incentives

• Enhance public/private sector dialogue

• Introduce Freedom of Information legislation

• Introduce international best practices in regulation of Government purchase of goods and services

• All Government policies affecting business and investment should be published

• Rationalise allocation and sale of government land and remove politics from decision making in this area

• Create civil and criminal divisions of High Court

• Legislate to allow attachment of wages to satisfy civil judgments

• Rationalize public service promotion of small businesses

• Expose more students to programs teaching entrepreneurship skills

• Control street and sidewalk vending

• Take in depth look at role and potential of diaspora in development of country