COADY International Institute – Global Change Leader’s Programme

Placement Report March – May 2012

Liesl Marisa Harewood – Global Change Leader,

Placement Agency

In fulfillment of Item B13 of the Action Portfolio Requirements

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INTRODUCTION

The Flag of Jamaica

The Sun shineth, the land is

green, and the people are

strong and bold is the

symbolism of the colours of

the flag. BLACK represents

the strength and creativity of

the people; GREEN

represents hope and

agricultural resources; GOLD

represents the natural wealth

and beauty of sunlight.

Thanks to their athletes, their artists and musicians, their academics and their people in general,

including the Rastafarian movement, most persons can recognize the Jamaican flag. Famous

Jamaicans include Professor Rex Nettleford, Charles Hyatt, Herb McKenley, Randolph

Williams, Edna Manley, Louise Bennett-Coverly, Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley, Usain Bolt, Asafa

Powell and Yohan Blake (track and field athletes), Courtney Walsh (cricket) and Jamaica’s Bob

Sled Team.

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length, up to 80

kilometres (50 mi) in width and 10,990 square kilometres (4,243 sq mi) in area. It is situated in

the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi)

west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Its indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the

"Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs".

Once a Spanish possession known as Santiago, in 1655 it became an English, and later a British,

colony, known as "Jamaica". It achieved full independence in 1962. With 2.8 million people, it is

the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and

Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Kingston is

the country's largest city and the capital. The weather is tropical, with April to June being the

rainy months and June to November as the official tropical hurricane season.

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ABOUT THE COMPETITIVENESS COMPANY

Affectionately called The CC, The Competitiveness Company has been in existence for six (6)

years, during which it has amassed a wealth of experience from collaborating and working with

Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the public sector, regional and international

institutions, as well as Associates.

In 2005, the Jamaica Exporters’ Association (JEA) established The CC, creating an in-house

centre of expertise in competitiveness on which the private and public sectors can draw. The goal

of The Competitiveness Company is to increase and enhance the competitiveness of Jamaican

and regional firms, ensure that their products can command a premium in the market place and

move Jamaican and regional exports up the value chain.

The Vision and Mission of The Competitiveness Company are:

Vision: We are the first choice in enabling consulting services for international competitiveness,

strategy and cluster development for Caribbean firms.

Mission: We will enhance the prosperity of Jamaica and the region by improving the

competitiveness of MSMEs through the delivery of innovative solutions and diagnostic-driven

data by a multi-disciplinary, high-performance team.

The Competitiveness Company, over the years, has embarked on the export of services to

various countries in the Region including Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Trinidad & Tobago, St.

Kitts, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, and the Dominican Republic.

It has played a lead role, in association with its Intellectual Property attorneys, in working with

MSMEs to improve their recognition and understanding of intellectual property and the role that

it can play in their competitive advantage.

The Competitiveness Company possesses a number of characteristics that enable it to confront

the increased competition in the market place in which it operates. These include the following:

1. The Company possesses a highly motivated and highly qualified staff. The

company’s team has a strong depth and range of academic qualifications. This is an

indication of the Company’s ability to handle complex and challenging tasks. Very few

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small companies in Jamaica or elsewhere have this depth of intellectual capital available

to them. Very importantly, the team is committed to and enjoys the work what they do.

2. An established record in writing winning proposals: The Company has developed a

good track record in writing winning proposals to get funding from donor organizations

in order to implement the mission.

3. A highly motivated and experienced team leader: Dr. Beverley Morgan, Head of The

Competitiveness Company has strong technical competence in delivering high quality

output. Coupled with her passion, her leadership has motivated the team to follow this

direction thus resulting in high quality production and output for the company. I am

fortunate to have been assigned her as my mentor during the Global Change Leader

experience.

4. Alliance with a recognized Parent Company: The Jamaica Exporters’ Association is a

45-year old, recognized body and has a well-established list of more than 200 members.

This strengthens the links with the network of MSMEs, especially those which trade

internationally.

5. Strong focus on team training: Human capital is a critical source of competitive

advantage for the Competitiveness Company. As such, it invests heavily in training its

team so that they can be up to date with the latest thinking in the competitiveness.

MARCH 2012 - ASSIGNED TASKS & WHAT OCCURRED IN HOST ORGANISATION &

RESULTS

5-9 March Permission granted by Mentor Dr. Beverley Morgan of The Competitiveness

Company to participate in the Organisation of American States (OAS) Election

Observation Mission to Belize.

12-16 March European Union Projects Received 8 Framework Contracts that The Competitiveness Company have

recently signed. 3 of these contracts are COLEACP and 5 of these contracts are

EDES. One of my tasks and personal learning objectives is to review these

contracts and make recommendations on how The Competitiveness Company can

proceed with the next stage of these contracts.

Intellectual Property

Reviewed Executive Summary of Case Study on Caribbean Intellectual Property

and Branding for colleague Annabelle Haynes. One of my tasks and personal

learning objectives while on my placement is to learn more about intellectual

property especially as it relates to the Caribbean as there is a lack of information

and understanding in this area. The Competitiveness Company was invited to

participate in “IP Week 2012” from 22-28 April, 2012 and I will be attending this

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on behalf of the Company.

Marketing

Became one of the Administrators of the The Competitiveness Company’s

Facebook Page. At the start of the week the Page was at 77 “Likes” and the

target for the end of the week was to attain 100 “Likes” on the Page. By

close of business on 16 March the Team had achieved 118 “Likes”. Our

goal for the week 19-25 March is to reach 150 “Likes”.

Generated content daily for The Competitiveness Company’s Facebook and

Twitter Pages. [See Appendix: File #1: Email to Marketing Team

(14.03.12)]

Worked on a Press Release with colleague Tameka Dunbar regarding the

placement and the Global Change Leader’s Programme. The Press Release

is pending approval and comments from the rest of the team.

Wrote an article entitled “The Caribbean Woman: Global Change Leader?”

for publication on The Competitiveness Company website

http://www.thecompetitivenesscompany.com/news/133-the-caribbean-

woman-global-change-leader

Meetings Attended

Attended the "10th

EDF Country Strategy and National Indicative Programme,

Non-State Actors’ Consultation". [See Appendix: File #2: Notes from EU

Country Strategy Meeting (13.03.12)]. This meeting provided me with an

overview of the EU’s involvement in Jamaica and I was able to meet some of the

key stakeholders.

Proposals

Worked on proposal for . My colleague Nicardo Neil and I will

be submitting two proposals for:

Learning Track 2: Adolescent Girls & Young Women

Learning Track 5: Youth Enterprise Development

My tasks and personal learning objectives are to develop and improve my proposal

writing skills during my placement. In this regard I will be working on proposals

throughout my placement.

FOLLOW UP Request a copy of the Marketing Plan from Margaret Mais. Review and make

comments and suggestions to the document and strategy of the Company.

Look at framework contracts Week of March 19-23, 2012 and start to compile

information on the contracts to see which organisations, territories and potential

projects could be done through these contracts.

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Work on presentation for upcoming “Lunch and Learn” to the team.

19-23 March European Union Projects

Read all 8 framework contracts and made notes. Started to formulate ideas and

questions. Need to talk to Dr. Beverley Morgan for further explanation.

Marketing

Received hard copy of the Marketing Plan for the Competitiveness Company.

Reviewed and edited and circulated to the team. Deadline for responses set March

30, 2012.

Continued to promote the Facebook page to increase the number of “likes”.

Submitted web content for the page.

Meetings Attended

Monthly meeting with USAID representative and some of The Competitiveness

Company team for update on the USAID-funded projects.

Quarterly meeting of the membership of the Jamaica Exporters’ Association.

Featured speaker was the Minister of Finance Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips. I was able to

network and meet some of the private sector participants of Jamaica.

Proposals

Worked on proposal for Learning Track 2: Adolescent Girls &

Young Women.

Team Meeting to Review Potential Proposals

The team reviewed several calls for proposals and decided to pursue the following:

Urbanization and Development: Delving Deeper into the Nexus

RGK Center – ARNOVA Presidents Award for 2012

Both proposals are due on April 16, 20102. Will be working on pulling information

together for both of them.

We received a Specialty Crops Project Update from Hilda Vaughan

26-30 March Marketing

The Facebook page currently has 125 “likes” – 25 short of the 150 target we

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had established previously. The revised goal is to have 200 “likes” by the

end of April 2012.

Wrote an article entitled covering the Closing Ceremony for Building Skills

and Creating Wealth project

http://thecompetitivenesscompany.com/news/134-urban-farmers-feted-as-

ornamental-fish-project-comes-to-a-close/

Meetings Attended

Went on a site visit of two ornamental fish farms on Saturday 24th

March, 2012

with Shomari Small and Everton Reece of The Competitiveness Company and

approximately 22 potential fish farmers who had recently completed the training

programme by the company. These farmers are now in the initial phase of having

completed training and about to get involved in the practical aspect of the fish

farming. The two venues we visited were in Red Hills and Russell Road, and we

were able to see two farms at different stages of development.

Meeting with Professor Duncan and some of The Competitiveness Company team

to discuss our Urbanization and Development proposal. Some timelines were set

and information is to be submitted by April 4, 2012.

Closing ceremony for the Building Skills and Creating Wealth project. This was

attended by representatives from The Competitiveness Company, the Ministry of

Agriculture and Fisheries, Jamaica Social Investment Fund, the European Union

Delegation in Jamaica and the urban fish farmers. We also did a site visit to one of

the ornamental fish farms in Jones Town, an urban community in Kingston.

Proposals

Submitted proposal for Learning Track 2: Adolescent

Girls & Young Women.

Working on proposal with colleagues for the GDN Research Grant for

proposals on Urbanization and Development: Delving Deeper into the

Nexus due April 16th

, 2012.

FOLLOW UP Work on information for the Urbanization and Development proposal

Have meeting on Marketing Plan document

Look at the Funding for Climate Change Research in Developing Countries

Continue to promote the Facebook page to achieve 200 “likes”

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APRIL 2012 - ASSIGNED TASKS & WHAT OCCURRED IN HOST ORGANISATION & RESULTS

2-5 April

European Union Projects

Attended and assisted with the facilitation of the Guys Hill United PMO Cluster

Management Workshop on April 3, 2012 with my mentor Dr. Beverley Morgan,

colleagues Hilda Vaughan of The Competitiveness Company and Tracey-Ann

Wright, Consultant with the International Trade Centre, ACP Commodities

Programme. The objectives of the workshop were:

(1) To provide an understanding and appreciation of the development, role and

operation of the Guys Hill PMO

(2) To ascertain present and anticipated production levels

Marketing

All day team strategizing to review and brainstorm about the revised

Marketing Plan of the company. Made some notes for facilitator Nicardo

Neil and circulated after the meeting.

The Facebook page currently has 161 “likes” – 39 short of the revised goal

of 200 “likes” by the end of April 2012.

Proposals

Working on proposal with colleagues for the GDN Research Grant for

proposals on Urbanization and Development: Delving Deeper into the

Nexus due April 16th

, 2012.

10-13 April

European Union Projects Received 8 Framework Contracts that The Competitiveness Company have

recently signed. 3 of these contracts are COLEACP and 5 of these contracts are

EDES. One of my tasks and personal learning objectives is to review these

contracts and make recommendations on how The Competitiveness Company can

proceed with the next stage of these contracts. (Need to follow up with mentor BM

on this)

Meetings

April 11 & 12: Attended Jamaica Country Assessment Prioritisation Workshop for

Vision 2030. Submitted a summary report of the workshop [See Appendix: File

#3: Notes from Jamaica Country Assessment and National Prioritization

Workshop]

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Proposals

Working on proposal with colleagues for the GDN Research Grant for

proposals on Urbanization and Development: Delving Deeper into the

Nexus due April 16th

, 2012.

Working on proposal for Funding for Climate Change Research in

Developing Countries due April 25th

, 2012.

Other

Worked on getting manufacturing companies from Jamaica to apply for the Study

Tour to Europe in June 2012 as part of EU-funded project that I am working on.

Worked on Assignment 3 for Coady: GCL Program

Worked on Presentation for Learn at Lunch schedule for April 25, 2012

16-20 April

Proposals

Submitted with colleagues for the GDN Research Grant for proposals on

Urbanization and Development: Delving Deeper into the Nexus.

Marketing

All day team strategizing to review and brainstorm about the revised

Marketing Plan of the company. Made some notes for facilitator Nicardo

Neil and circulated after the meeting.

Continued the promotion of the Facebook page – target of 200 likes to be

achieved by the end of the month.

Meeting

To discuss the CDE proposal and the detailed design of the IP Business Unit for

The Competitiveness Company.

23-27 April

JIPO Press Launch and Open Day

Attended with colleague Margaret Mais at the JIPO office.

Presentation: Learn at Lunch

Researched, created and facilitated the session “Networking and Mentoring Your

Way To Competitiveness” for staff and invited guests.

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NETWORKING IN ACTION

Some of the contacts I made throughout my placement in Jamaica. These persons I have

all contacted subsequently and have on my database.

ORGANISATION NAME POSITION MET / LOCATION

Small Business Association

of Jamaica

Dr. Meredith Derby April 11 – 12: Jamaica 2030

Medium Term Framework

Consultation

Delegation of the European

Union to Jamaica, Belize,

The Bahamas, Turks and

Caicos Islands, and the

Cayman Islands

Jesús Orús Baguena Head of Operations March 13 - 10th

EDF Country

Strategy and National Indicative

Programme, Joint Annual Report

/ End of Term Review 2011,

Non-State Actors’ Consultation

March 28 - Building Skills &

Creating Wealth Closing

Ceremony

Compete Caribbean Project

Travelled with mentor Dr. Beverley Morgan, Hilda Vaughan and videographer

Linden to Jakes, in St. Elizabeth, as part of the community-based tourism project

marketing and strategic plan that The CC will be executing. Spent the day touring

the community and learning about all their accomplished and future projects. My

assignment 3 looking at the Power and Citizen Space was a reflection on this

experience.

Marketing

Achieved 205 Facebook likes – marketing target established at the beginning of my

placement was achieved.

30 April – 4 May Brainstorming Meeting

To discuss upcoming calls for proposals including:

Innovation and Productivity in the Service Sector

Application to CDE for Jamaica Exporters Association / IP Business Unit

Training

Proposal Writing Team Training session facilitated by Dr. Morgan

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China Harbour Engineering

Company Limited

Colvin Heath-London Senior Business

Manager

Met at a social function March

2012

International Trade Centre Tracey-Ann Wright National Consultant Former Coady Graduate in 2010

Works in the Jamaica Exporters

Association building (same

building as The Competitiveness

Company)

Delegation of the European

Union to Jamaica, Belize,

The Bahamas, Turks and

Caicos Islands, and the

Cayman Islands

Thomas Millar First Secretary:

Economics, Trade,

Politics and

Information

April 11 – 12: Jamaica 2030

Medium Term Framework

Consultation

CONCLUSION, OWN LEARNINGS & FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS

Overall, I remember texting my mentor one Friday evening in March saying

“Best.Placement.Ever” followed by “Best.Mentor.Ever”. I think that is how I can succinctly

conclude this entire experience of my professional placement in Jamaica at The Competitiveness

Company.

Some of my learnings taken from this experience:

Mentorship is critical for success

I need to learn to “manage myself”

Sometimes my effervescence can be a hindrance to my progress and development

I will continue my relations with my placement agency as I have made my CV available to them

to be pulled on as a consultant on future projects that match my skills, experience and expertise. I

will also be contributing monthly articles to The Competitiveness Company’s website. My

mentor-mentee relationship will be an ongoing engagement. I have been given a Learning

Leadership textbook from which I will be working through and exchanging thoughts and ideas

via Skype with my mentor.

I was so fortunate to have a challenging placement – it has left me knowing that I have to

restructure elements of my life if I am to be a leader who changes the globe. I really do not have

any recommendations for future placements as I got everything that I wanted, but didn’t even

know I needed out of my experience.

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File #1: Email to Marketing Team (14.03.12)

Good Job Web Team 2 messages

Nicardo Neil <nicardo@thecompetitivenesscompany.com> Wed, Mar 14, 2012

at 7:22 AM

To: hvaughan@thecompetitivenesscompany.com, mmais@thecompetitivenesscompany.com,

annabelle haynes <ahaynes@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, aroberts

<aroberts@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, "Dr. Beverley Morgan"

<bmorgan@infochan.com>, Everton Reece <reece@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>,

Shomari Small <shomari@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, Tameka Dunbar

<tdunbar@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, Liesl Harewood <liesl.harewood@gmail.com>

Team

Just wanted to send a quick thanks and "good job" to my partners in crime for the CC website

(Liesl, Annabelle and Tameka). Though the site is quite young I'm still celebrating the fact

that we broke our records for daily site visits and page views yesterday (33 and 120

respectively). This is thanks especially to Annabelle and Liesl's efforts submitting articles

and promoting TCC on the facebook page. I encourage the rest of the team to aid in this

effort. Just to repeat, the more content we generate, the more visits we get; the more visits we

get across all our online platforms the more exposure there is for TCC and the more people

have us on the brain for things that fit our skills and competencies. I will be generating a

monthly, one page website report starting at the end of this month to keep everyone abreast

of how we're doing.

Keep it up!

--

________________________________

Nicardo Neil | Marketing & Project Manager

Urban Value Chain Development Project

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File #2: Notes from EU Country Strategy Meeting (13.03.12) 1 message

Nicardo Neil <nicardo@thecompetitivenesscompany.com> Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 2:14 PM To: hvaughan@thecompetitivenesscompany.com, mmais@thecompetitivenesscompany.com, annabelle haynes

<ahaynes@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, aroberts <aroberts@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, "Dr. Beverley

Morgan" <bmorgan@infochan.com>, Everton Reece <reece@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, Shomari Small

<shomari@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, Tameka Dunbar <tdunbar@thecompetitivenesscompany.com>, Liesl

Harewood liesl.harewood@gmail.com4

Team

Liesl and I attended the "10th

EDF Country Strategy and National Indicative Programme, Non-State Actors’

Consultation" this past Tuesday. Here are our notes and takeaways from the meeting:

Present:

Barbara Scott (Director, External Cooperation Management – PIOJ)

Dianne Davis (Manager, European Union Unit – PIOJ)

Richard Lumsden (Programme Director, Plan Development Unit – PIOJ)

Jesús Orús Báguena (Head of Operations – EU)

NSAs Present:

The Competitiveness Company

Jamaicans for Justice

RISE Life Management The purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of the:

Jamaica Cane Farmers Association

The current Joint Annual Report on delegation outlays and projects

GOJ's Vision 20130 (The EU Delegations plans to more explicitly align its Priorities with Vision 2030

Priorities)

Plans for Future Cooperation

Highlights

30% of funds for the this planning period are as yet uncommitted and must be committed by December 2013

or risk being de-committed

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Current questions about Jamaica's Macro-economic stability and Public Financial Management (including

ongoing IMF negotiations) means the "Budgetary Support" modality of fund disbursement is effectively on

hold. The Delegation is contemplating direct "classic projects" to expend the remaining funds (approximately

33 Million Euros).

Jamaican delegation received an additional 22 Million Euros as a "top performer". The delegation seems

determined to focus this money on public Health related priorities

Another Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP III) has been finalized and is about to be signed. 9.5 Million

Euros has been allocated

In the National Development Plan (Vision 2030) for Jamaica “competitiveness” is one of the focus areas and

a top priority

Issues/Challenges Raised by NSAs

Lack of cohesion between EU regulations & rules and those of the signing agency (raised by TCC)

Lack of awareness of new calls for proposals. This point was countered by the argument that it is not the role

of the EU office here in Jamaica since in some instances neither the EU (Jamaica) or the PIOJ are aware of

some of the calls for proposals. The onus is on the non-state actors and the respective organisations to tap

into these opportunities.

Lack of expertise amongst NSAs for proposal writing. The Competitiveness Company offered its expertise in

proposal writing and training to the delegation.

Some NSA's felt that in the past they were not consulted enough by the delegation in the way they were at

this meeting.

Overall, the tone of the meeting was commended as being one that was open, transparent and vocal. The

representative of the Head of Operations – EU, a new role, was keen to maintain this level of dialogue with the

participants throughout his tenure in Jamaica. It was noted that the relationship should not be one of attributing

blame to any of the relevant parties, but to find solutions in working together to access the funding and implement

sustainable projects that would benefit the economy of Jamaica.

--

________________________________

Nicardo Neil | Marketing & Project Manager

Urban Value Chain Development Project

Contacts:

W: 1-876-929-1203 | 1-876-929-4440

F: 1-876-960-9869

Website: www.thecompetitivenesscompany.com

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File #3: Notes from Jamaica Country Assessment and National Prioritization Workshop

Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) 2012-2015

National Prioritization of Issues

April 11-12, 2012

Representing The Competitiveness Company: Nicardo Neil & Liesl Harewood

The Workshop Objectives were:

- Arrive at consensus on the main development issues and challenges to be addressed of

the next medium term (three-year period, 2012-2015)

- Articulate the country’s key national priorities and related strategies for the next three

years within the context of a new Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework

Mr. Everton McFarlane, Deputy Director General, PIOJ

An environmental scanning report was conducted and a summary of the potential impacts of

major trends can be noted as follows: demographic transition, migration, rising commodity

prices, cyclical economic growth rates, globalisation and emerging markets, growth of

democracy, climate change, environmental degradation and disasters, increase in non-

communicable diseases, empowerment of women, urbanization, advance of technology and ICT.

These trends would have key impacts in the following area: demographic, economic,

governance, environmental, social and technological.

Vision 2030 Jamaica has 4 goals, 15 national outcomes and 84 national strategies. This

information is listed at www.vision2030.gov.jm

Dr. Wesley Hughes, Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning

We are currently engaged in a critical struggle in Jamaica. There is a long standing economic,

social, physical and intellectual deficit. The positive is that although there has been a change in

the political administration, the vision 2030 Jamaica plan remains endorsed by the ruling party.

Jamaica now needs stringent measures to deal with the economic and financial challenges. One

of the problems is that in this current environment, Jamaica is not building a sustainable system.

Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson, Director General, PIOJ

Raised the issue of dominance of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa),

these emerging markets forged their own competitive advantage. If Jamaica is to compete with

these existing ones then we need to get our internal policies set up. Some of the global issues we

need to address: demographic, BRICS, income distribution, social equity and development.

Question by Mr. Thomas Millar, EU Delegation

While these issues are being discussed are relevant – most of the criteria used does not address

the discussion about inequality. He posed whether this was a concern as to how inequality was

being addressed in the quest to development? We address development but never how the

development will be paid for – example what is the taxation system and structure?

He also raised the issue of the time frame: a lot of things are priorities but sometimes there is just

not enough time.

Mr. Richard Lumsden, Programme Director, Vision 2030 Jamaica, PIOJ

Provided an overview “Setting the Context for the Workshop: Jamaica Country Assessment and

National Prioritization”.

• Cooperation Programme

• Government of Jamaica Planning Process

• Plans for Future Cooperation and coordination of human rights reports

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16 | P a g e

He stated the need for a comprehensive review of domestic legislation. Several times throughout

the session it was referenced the need to pass the National Disability Bill, which is linked to one

of the priority areas.

There needs to be an integrated and standardised accountability framework and improved local

governance framework that would augment the human rights in the country.

Justice Reform Programme – Jamaica needs to review and update the existing to ensure its

relevance and to ensure it carries us to and beyond 2015 until 2030. The accessibility and

capacity of the justice system needs to be reviewed. There needs to be expansion of the offenders

rehabilitation programme as there is a high level of re-offenders and that is a big issue.

National Prioritization Working Group Sessions

Group 3 (Liesl Harewood)

We did a review of the GDP, unemployment rate etc. and recognised some of the key initiatives

that already exist in the in the country, the need to build on those initiative and identify new

strategies.

Top 10 issues:

1.1 Migration

1.7 Rising Levels of Poverty

1.12 Inadequate Youth Development

2.1 High Levels of Crime and Violence

3.3 Low Economic Growth Rates

3.5 Uncompetitive Business Environment

3.6 Low Labour Productivity

3.7 Poor road transport infrastructure and services

3.8 Undeveloped opportunities in maritime transport and logistics

3.12 Development of cultural and creative industries

In Breakout Group 3 – the top 5 identifiable issues were:

1.6 Inadequate education and training

2.1 High levels of crime and violence

1.10 Weakened family and poverty

3.10 Lack of energy focus

3.12 Internationally competitiveness

DISCUSSION

Some of the points coming out of the discussion in this group:

April 12: Day 2

Looking at the action plan and moving forward

Presentation by Dr. Arun Kashyap, Resident Representative, UNDP

Proposed breakout groups:

1) National Security, Justice, Accountability and Human Rights

2) Education, Training, Youth Development, Early Childhood Development and Parenting

3) Unemployment, Growth and Tax Reform

4) Natural Environment, Energy, Waste Management and Land Use Planning

5) Poverty and Social Protection

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6) Productivity and Business Environment

7) Science, Technology and Innovation

It is about engendering shared strategies to reach the Jamaica 2030 vision. This process has been

built on partnership. It is the national strategic action planning.

Ms. Afrika Thompson, Public Relations Manager, Social Development Commission

Social development - Stakeholder partnerships in achieving vision 2030, led community

development, current engagement and organisation

Mr. Everton McFarlane - PIOJ

-impact of climate change

Development and Challenges – rural development is not represented, rural areas have the highest

level of poverty looking at the social area in the environment

Validation of main development issues

Importance of public scholarship and discussion

Need for all stakeholders involvement in guiding the process

NATIONAL PRIORITIZATION ACTION PLANNING WORKING GROUP SESSIONS

(Concurrent Sessions)

NATIONAL SECURITY, JUSTIC, ACCOUNTABILITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS –

Group 1

- Jamaica needs to facilitate new investments in the priority industries that have already

been identified in the National Export Strategy of Jamaica. We need to look at them

under the ACP project and other key initiatives, like the Tourism Master Plan.

- It is critical to encourage and institutionalise entrepreneurship. Currently it is treated as

something that happens when people fail in other areas. It needs to be integrated in the

school curriculum. There needs to be support for existing entrepreneurs and we want to

strengthen the facilities that have business incubation schemes such as UTECH. There is

significant room to strengthen business incubation in Jamaica

EDUCATION, TRAINING AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT – Group 2

Children with disabilities – all inclusive play. There needs to be a programme of values and

attitudes as all these points are cross cutting. Results based governance and accountability, this

speaks to school boards. We need consistent quality of teaching.

Emphasis on use of the arts as mainstream component in education in the schools from early.

Integrating policies and programme for youth development. There needs to be a reduction in teen

pregnancy and more responsibility in part of father. There needs to be a reduction in child abuse

and violence against children.

There needs to be increased financial support, through the student loan bureau and more

scholarships available.

Strengthening of programmes for unattached youth, the vulnerable and persons with disabilities.

TAX REFORM – Group 3

Compliance and equity is important. We are encouraging government and other stakeholders to

discuss mechanisms to broaden the tax base. There needs to be a competitive tax rate. We need

to be looking at the kind of investments we will be providing to some of the entrepreneurs and

firms in the competitive industries.

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Under consideration is the Omnibus Incentive Act - some of the incentives do not need to be

arbitrarily withdrawn but we should be looking for over the next three years to be implementing

the Omnibus Incentive Act.

There are a number of professionals who are evading taxes and engaged in the underground

illegal economy.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, WASTE – Group 4

We need to discuss energy use and cost especially in the area of competitiveness.

We need to discuss conservation and alternative energy sources.

Planning – parish development plan and national spatial plan, we need to talk about squatting,

enforcement.

Design and develop a waste management framework. We discussed the environmental

performance index. One of the key areas is environmental health with sanitation pollution.

POVERTY AND SOCIAL PROTECTION – Group 5

Need for implementation of a coordinated poverty reduction programme

The most marginalised groups are: rural woman, inner city, communities, persons with

disabilities, unattached youths

We need to broaden the social protection system

Health – group was concerned that people need to be empowered to take responsibility for health

and opt for a healthy lifestyle. There needs to be a comprehensive primary health care system.

PRODUCTIVITY AND THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT – Group 6

Engaged in a conversation about Jamaica’s competitiveness. The dichotomy that exists is

productivity is more of the private sector element and the business environment is more of the

public sector element. They both however play a part in the productivity and business

environment of Jamaica. The group looked at value chain expansion, increasing sophistication of

private businesses and the need to transition from factor-based to knowledge-based to

innovation-based.

There needs to be a drive to more value-added production. Improving the infrastructure and

efficiency of the public sector institutions through investment in technology. There is a need to

make public sector more proactive and less reactive, make it more efficient.

Creating an enabling environment that fosters entrepreneurship and MSME development.

Entrepreneurship should be promoted and encouraged by both private sector and public sector.

More skills training and certification, access to capital and venture funds, technical and

management support.

Investing more in research and design and linking this to production, creativity and innovation is

not something we invest in a lot.

Intellectual property/policy increased – we need to look into this.

Physical infrastructure, good roads, energy costs, electricity

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION – Group 7

1) The systematic inclusion of science and technology in education to foster teaching and

innovation

2) Need to provide students with the possibility of opportunities

3) Need to use applications and software

4) Need to expose students to technology at early childhood level

5) Need to provide incentives

6) Need to improve access to education tools through cell phones

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7) There needs to be 100% internet access

8) Introduction of science and technology into industries to provide competitive grounding

with output in goods and services, to increase efficiency in niche markets, profit markets

Job creation, wealth creation and poverty alleviation, national innovation system – modern

resource science and technology policy

We need more diaspora partners, international grant agencies,

NEXT STEPS

-Framework of results, indicators and targets

-Identify key progress and projects that will align

This is a 6 Step Process

-developed country status by 2030

The MTF is in a phased approach to advance the planning process

2 year packages- we are currently in a period of new discussion with the IMF, this MTF

phase is 2012-2015

7 national priority issues which we deem most important to address

Final Medium Term framework by July-August 2012