Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
A TWO-DAY seminar aimed at improving productivity and competitiveness in the business environment starts today at the Visitors Lodge at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus.
The Jamaica Productivity Centre, a tripartite organisation sponsored by the Government of Jamaica, the Jamaica Confed-eration of Trade Unions and the Jamaica Employers Federation, is hosting the seminar.
Errol Lyle, executive director of the Jamaica Productivity Centre told The Gleaner that the seminar is being held against the background of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), which will commence initially with three CARICOM countries. They are Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
LABOUR ENVIRONMENT
He said that with this in mind, and the repositioning of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to meet the changing labour environment, the Jamaica Productivity Centre was committed and focused on making both the private and public sectors CSME-ready.
Mr. Lyle said that today's seminar would outline salient strategies for enhancing Jamaica's competitive edge through improved productivity. It is also expected to inform attendees about the concept of and the role productivity plays in the business environment with respect to the CSME.
The session, he said, will include hands-on practical sessions outlining the inputs and outputs of improving productivity and competitiveness in the business environment.
TOP LEADERS
The seminar is expected to attract top leaders in government, business and trade unions. Guest speaker of the seminar will be Dr. Joseph Prokopenko, head of enterprise and management development programmes at the International Labour Organi-sation (ILO), Geneva.
Dr. Prokopenko is the world's foremost authority on productivity and competitiveness having authored, co-authored and edited more than 120 publications on economics, enterprise and management, development and public administration. He does management consulting, training and development for the ILO, World Bank, United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), European Union (EU) training foundation, government agencies and private companies. The seminar ends on Friday.
