Governor-General Kenneth Hall (centre) presents the Governor- General's Trophy and Plaque to Brian Pengelley, distribution and logistics operation manager at Red Stripe, and Grace Silvera , director, international marketing at Red Stripe, as the beer company for the second consecutive year won the champion exporter title. Occasion was the Jamaica Exporters Association's (JEA) 40th anniversary awards banquet, under the theme 'Building Jamaica Brand We Love Through Exports', at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, in New Kingston, on Saturday. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
CHAIRMAN AND chief executive officer of Capital and Credit Financial Group, Ryland Campbell says the Caribbean must demand the political will to make the CARCIOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) achievable.
"Our politicians in the region must stop playing political football with the life of the citizens of our region," he said, adding that they should establish authoritative and credible structures for the harmonisation of policies, laws, regulation and strategies to ensure survival.
He was addressing the Jamaica Exporters' Association's 40th anniversary awards banquet at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Saturday night.
Mr. Campbell said it was necessary that the region be collaborative because the world has been uniting into nearly 200 trade blocs of different types in defence of survival.
He suggested that to deepen integration, investments by CARICOM in member-countries and investments from outside of CARICOM should be strategically allocated.
BRAND IDENTIFICATION
"Such an arrangement would not in any way impinge upon the brand identification of the territory and would enhance econo-mies of scale," he said.
Mr. Campbell argued that if the region was serious, it could have its individual distinctive brands under the region's umbrella.
"As business people, we have to march beyond the political gauge of 'standstillism' among our Caribbean counterparts and make our own way in finding our own alliances among our Caribbean business counterpart while preserving our Brand Jamaica," he said.
Mr. Campbell explained that for example, 'Brand Jamaica,' in the Caribbean could form the centrepiece for the expansion of the areas for which the country is especially outstanding.
