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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - The Ministry of Commerce, Investment and
Consumer Affairs closed shop on Friday, March 12th to convene a staff retreat
for 78 employees at the Mount of Prayer, Coubaril. According to officials from
the Ministry, the exercise, which provided staff with the opportunity to
dialogue amongst themselves and with heads of department on the way forward for
the Ministry, was a resounding success.
The staff retreat was held to awaken staff to the awareness that the Ministry
was now operating under very different national and international paradigms.
Lead Facilitator of the retreat, Mr. Cletus Springer explained that the
conditions which catalysed the island’s earlier development is gone or otherwise
significantly diminished, and consequently, the only option that remained for
Saint Lucia’s continued development and viability, is to throw its hat into the
ring of global competitiveness.
Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Investment and
Consumer Affairs, Mrs. Allison Jean told the staff that the efficiency of public
servants was critical to St. Lucia’s capability to reap tangible benefits from
the tough globalised market. Mrs. Jean reiterated that the contribution of every
worker was invaluable to this process.
“I’m sure that most of you are hearing a lot about trade liberalisation and
globalisation. This means that internationally the world is changing and these
changes are impacting significantly on us in small St. Lucia. You’re hearing a
lot about the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA) and World Trade Organisation (WTO). Now we have better educated
consumers and I am sure the Consumer Affairs Department can attest to that,
given the number of redress cases that we have to deal with, on a daily basis.
We also have a vigorous business environment and all of these are now forcing us
in the Ministry of Commerce and in the whole government service to change the
way we do business”, Mrs. Jean said.
Mrs. Jean was at the time speaking at a one day staff retreat for the Ministry
of Commerce, Investment and Consumer Affairs. The retreat was designed to set
the tone for repositioning the corporate vision of the ministry. The objective
of the Ministry of Commerce for 2004 and beyond is to become an effective
instrument of delivery service to the private sector, to facilitate economic
growth.
Minister for Commerce, Investment and Consumer Affairs, Honourable Philip J
Pierre, who attended last week’s staff retreat told participants that the age of
globalisation called for new attitudes in all spheres of life, even in regard to
the personal decisions that citizens make on a day-to-day basis. Minister Pierre
says Saint Lucians must not underestimate the impact that international forces
have on the country and its citizens. He says citizens at all levels within the
society will have to re-orient their thinking to cope with the massive scale of
competition that comes with the liberalisation of markets.
Honourable Philip J Pierre imparted this message within the context of the new
role that his Ministry has to adopt, in order to keep pace with the present
global shift: “Many people do not understand the transition, the changes that
are taking place in the world and how these impact on Saint Lucia and how we
cannot continue as we did ten years ago; we cannot”, asserted the Minister.
He reminded the staff that the entire country benefited from the mandate of the
Ministry of Commerce by making available, the most basic commodities, such as
sugar, rice and flour to all households regardless of the income bracket. He
said, “We often complain and overlook the little graces that we have as a
country. The prices of rice, and sugar and flour have not increased in St. Lucia
for the last decade.’
By June of this year, the Ministry’s new corporate plan is expected to be fully
implemented.
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