Competitiveness And Governance

Within recent years, many of the challenges faced by Trinidad and Tobago, and impacting on the country’s competitiveness, have been underpinned by repeating themes of the need for accountability and transparency, both fundamental aspects of good governance.

The Uff Commission of Enquiry into UDeCOTT and the Construction Sector, and, more recently, the Colman Commission of Enquiry into the failure of several financial institutions within the CL Financial Group, heard testimonies which have stunned the nation and brought the need for proper governance to the fore.

With this in mind, this Chamber makes clear its call for good governance at all levels, since this is central to rebuilding investor confidence and competitiveness for Trinidad and Tobago.  As the business sector continues to be challenged by crime which erodes confidence in T&T it appears that white-collar crime is fast becoming as prevalent as blue-collar crime, and it becomes equally important that systems are put in place to address this growing prevalence in our local economy.

Very simply, there must be proper systems and procedures to guide both decision-making and implementation in order to ensure accountability and transparency in all areas, including procurement, recruitment, compensation and service delivery. There must also be adequate disclosure of these decisions and the activities undertaken in their execution.

Existing legislation provides some guidance and sets the boundaries and parameters within which officials, in both the public and private sectors must operate. There is, however, a need for enforcement of legislation, as legislation without enforcement is like “a dog with no teeth”.

Moreover, there must be an appreciation and understanding by the society of the need for, and importance of, these systems and procedures so that good governance becomes the norm and is collectively demanded of both the public and private sector.  The media also has an important role to play in ensuring that both businesses and institutions are held to account for their actions and decisions, especially where the use of public funds is concerned.

Companies in T&T do business regionally and internationally and cannot continue to look  narrowly at regulatory risk alone.  Institutionalizing good governance systems in the private and public sectors benefit not only the individual organizations and institutions implementing them, but also boost the national reputation in the international community. There is significant potential for increased investor confidence in the credibility of domestic operations and improved efficiency at the aggregate level, both of which lead to enhanced national competitiveness.

However, if members of our society do not have a clear sense of what is right and what is wrong, we will continue to be fighting fires. Without some moral compass guiding individual actions, the fabric of society continues to erode and there is less and less guidance provided for future generations. We as a society, also have a collective responsibility to live, outside of the workplace, the values of integrity and fairness that we expect from the public and private sectors. We ourselves must become this moral compass and support the embedding of values into the younger generation to create a culture of integrity for the future of Trinidad and Tobago.