Territory under attack – 3D Show caller
Sowande’s view was in agreement with a caller on the 3D Show aired on May 24, 2013 who said he had written a research paper over nine years ago suggesting that the VI should diversify its economy.
The caller said he believed there is a trend that suggests that the VI economy is currently being attacked. He noted that he did the paper with the fragility of both the offshore financial services as well as the tourism industry in mind.
He also felt that the Territory was continually being asked to implement more regulations as time goes. “The BVI has opened up its doors so wide that those foreign countries would be able to look into their books.”
He suspected that the ‘foreign’ countries were looking for avenues and ways by which they could dismantle the Territory’s financial services sector. “If the financial services should go, and tourism is kind of shaky at the moment, where do we go from here?” the caller asked.
He stated that a check of the Territory’s imports indicated that there was approximately $20M being spent on poultry and poultry products in the VI. The caller recommended a restructuring of the current system in place to allow local farmers to benefit from the agricultural industry. “We are enriching other countries,” the caller remarked.
The caller also recommended that examples be taken from countries in the Caribbean such as Trinidad and Guyana. He called for private entrepreneurs to take up the charge in leading the agriculture industry of the Virgin Islands.
Sowande said the (local) industries of tourism and financial services are not stable as they were service based and can leave overnight. “It’s only intelligent, with a growing population that have growing needs, that we diversify our economy,” he said.
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9 Responses to “Territory under attack – 3D Show caller”
Guyana in the seventy ban items such as yellow peas , flour,etc; however it did not last long with the people. Forbes Burnham was once a man who wanted to have a country that depends on its natural products. Trinidad like Guyana are rich countries who mismanaged their products and allowed their natural products to be managed by foreigners. Countries who comes under the management of the IMF created debts for lifetime for their nation, the more a country currency drop from its value the longer they stay in debt.
There should me more young people getting involved in creating their own business, this will allowed them to create a network of local young people who support can grow toward a better community. I would like to see young people network in the area of Forensic Science, there is no lab for blood testing in crime in the BVI, but there are people here who have their Bachelor and Masters degree in Physic, Biology, Crimiology, etc they can get together and open a lab to support this community. Likewise with Farmers and Fishermen who can create a network to do more farming and fishing.