LETTER OF THE DAY - When will the mendicancy end?
Published:Sunday | September 2, 2012 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Caribbean policymakers are truly delusional if they expect multinational corporations and Asian countries to be responsible for the region's development. China has provided the government of Grenada with a 353-unit housing scheme, for the country's inhabitants. Further, the government of Taiwan donated $900,000 to the construction of a cybernetic in the Dominican Republic.
In addition, the East-West Power Company of South Korea recently expressed an interest in making an investment in geothermal energy in St Lucia. Jamaica and China recently signed an economic technical agreement valued at $423 million.
Impossible
The aforementioned examples indicate that the region consists of a bunch of mendicants. In 1960, South Korea's per capita income was US$79; today it is more than US$30,000. Today, South Korea is a key exporter of high-end goods and services.
It is impossible for a region to develop in the knowledge-based economy without investing heavily in science and technology. This is where the region falls short.
Taiwan and Qatar have constructed science parks; however, we choose to invest in nonsense like JEEP. The region's manufacturers should seek to penetrate the Asian market; then the Caribbean would see real economic benefits.
Our politicians should take a page from South Korea's book, but then again most of them are quite satisfied with playing the role of a mendicant and blaming globalisation for the region's underdevelopment.
LIPTON MATTHEWS