Editorial
The vital needfor
continued growth
It was remarkable and, to put it mildly,disappointing that in all the thousands of words, uttered duringthe recent sitting of the Legislative Assembly not one was directedto the subject which we see as the vital one for Cayman thesedays the attraction of sound, alternative industries.
Undoubtedly, the Minister responsible forInformation Technology, Hon. Linford Pierson may have a lot tosay on this subject during his contribution to the current debateon the 2001 Budget and Throne Speech.
Traditionally, the need to diversify theeconomy admittedly gets a ritual mention in the annual BudgetSpeech, but thereafter, there has been little action and lesseffect.
The need for diversification is evidencedby the fact that the Planning Authority has so far this year approveddevelopments of a nominal amount, when compared with the valuationof residential and other types in past years.
We have said it here before, and shall nodoubt see the need to say it again, that Cayman needs to continuegrowing if it is to support the standard of life to which itspeople have become accustomed. It must either grow, or it willinevitable retrogress.
There may be a few who say they would welcomethis, but they are either shortsighted or selfish or both. Theydo not include those Caymanians whose future, if it is to be spentin their native land, requires a steadily growing, more prosperouseconomy.
The increasing output from the schools andthe steadily rising standard of education, training and expectationof the school-leavers, demand in an ever-broadening base of commercialactivity to provide the jobs with which the future is fearfulto contemplate.
But the new investment, which clearly isneeded to stimulate this growth, will not fall into our laps withouteffort. It cannot be anybody else's job, but Government's, totake the lead perhaps in concert with the Chamber of Commerce,but without that body if it is reluctant to see the need.
There must be some arm of Government withthe job of attracting new types of industries particularlythose that not too labour intensive such as Information Technology- best suited to Cayman's special requirements. We do not wanta few large, labour-intensive factories; what we want are a dozenor perhaps a score of small operations each able to make use offew of our unemployed and school-leavers.
Other countries have been successful inattracting industrial development on a much larger scale;Puerto Rico's Operation Bootstrap set the pattern many years ago.Today, Bermuda, the Seychelles, Gibraltar, The Bahamas and somany others have put Information Technology (IT) as a priorityfor their future industrial development and Cayman willhave to do it too, if the economy here is not to stagnate.
In doing, so, we can still take our placein the race, which has already started, because we have an advantage,which other countries lack the benefits of a sound financialcentre.
What Cayman needs is an "industrialambassador" to seek out potential investors and smooth theway for their setting-up operations here.
The lack of a policy statement by Governmentcan have more than one explanation, but the most obvious, evenif least charitable, is that Government does not have a policy.
This is not a new idea. However, it is onewhose time has come.