Minister of Information Senator Burchell Whiteman (right) welcomes Agnesa Secerkadic, director - Recognition Programmes at the headquarters of the San Francisco-based International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Gerry McDaniel IABC/Caribbean president looks on. Ms Secerkadic was paying a courtesy call on the minister during a recent visit to Kingston.

It is reported that the former Prime Minister of Britain Dame Margaret Thatcher was once asked if she accommodated independent views within her Cabinet. Did she allow her ministers to have the courage of their own convictions? Her reply: "I want them to have the courage of my convictions."

Today, we all must be engaged in the business of honing our skills as professional "business" communicators and broadening our vision of the society, the region in which we operate - and very much with an eye to the future - a future which is upon us now. The call to arms for each of us is to seize the moment and to act.

In this regard, I commend the Caribbean Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC/Caribbean) president, Gerry McDaniel, and his team for mounting a seminar under the theme: "Pursuing the Pinnacle". This is consistent with the enlightened policy adopted in recent times of involving a broader range of professionals and widening the traditional interpretation of "business". I believe that not only IABC/Caribbean, but the Caribbean society in general has, as a result, begun to see new possibilities and indeed imperatives emerging in relation to the impact of communication on development in its broadest sense.

I bring to attention the fact that the trade union movement in Jamaica has undertaken quite an extensive programme of consultation with the membership to sensitise them to the implications of a CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy) in its first phase of operations, and to look at possibilities down the road.

It has been well established that the CSME does not rise or fall on the basis of the intervention by governments, but on the leadership of the private sector, the response of workers and the fullest participation of the citizenry at large. It is the information, the perception and the understanding which these groupings have of the issues which drive the market towards success and accelerate the legislative and other frameworks for which parliamentarians and governments are responsible.

Today, we are not short of instruments to measure economic impacts of our communication strategy. Although it is certainly more difficult to develop instruments to measure the social impact of communication strategies and programmes, it is also possible to do so. In the Caribbean, we have to remain conscious of the need for effective communication for both social and economic development impact. I know we are well endowed with the requisite skills in this very region, and that we have in our midst people and organisations committed to perfecting our skills and systems to enable us as a society to do both.

In the pursuit of maintaining and improving professional standards, we are now able to make giant steps towards embedding within the regional tertiary institutions academic programmes which recognise the important link between professional certification and academic qualifications. This will make a significant difference to our society and our region in strengthening the pool of human resources and refocus our minds not only on process but on the measurable outputs and outcomes which are both of immediate importance and of medium and long-term value.

I am heartened that the current process involves political and governmental practitioners, rendering the enhancement multifaceted. After all in any social partnership, management and staff (no longer capital and labour), civil society and government each have a role to play. Everybody needs to come to the party. The Caribbean is not short of talent, and we are certainly not short of ambition. We are by no means short on success when we really put our minds to it.

Unlike the members of Mrs Thatcher's Cabinet, we can each - severally and collectively - bring something to the table and ensure that our creative energies, skills and standards result in action that demonstrate that we do have the courage of our individual convictions. and in exercising that courage, we will make a big difference.

In the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, four men from the Caribbean won a particular relay event, and the headline in a local newspaper read as follows: "Jamaica beats the world." It just may happen again in 2004 in one event or another. but each of us in our chosen field can do something to show that we in the Caribbean are indeed world beaters.

Let's continue to raise the bar, continue to do the best we can. andcontinue to beat the world.

The above is an edited version of the "closing charge" given by Senator Burchell Whiteman at a recent conference of professional communicators in Kingston under the auspices of the Caribbean chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC/Caribbean). Senator Whiteman is minister of information and leader of government business in the Upper House. He is also the first member of the legislative arm of government in the world to join the IABC. He was sworn in on July 16, 2003.

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