The private sector must become involved in trade policy negotiation from the policy design stage and not the back end, if it is to have any real impact on trade policy. That's the theme that emerged yesterday at a private sector-sponsored discussion on Globalisation and the Role of the Private Sector held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.

However, there was no direct private sector input, in terms of why the group does not get more involved in influencing the trade agenda rather than merely responding to trade policy.

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Senator Anthony Hylton speaks at yesterday's private sector-sponsored discussion on Globalisation and the Role of the Private Sector held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston. Beside him is Ambassador Richard Bernal, director-general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, who also spoke.

Senator Anthony Hylton, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, set the stage for the discussion by focussing on the main trends in global trade over the past three decades.
He listed these as:

. the expansion of the goods and services producing sectors and financial markets;
. the rapid growth and amalgamation of firms;
. the rapid growth in global trade;
. expansion of bilateral trade agreements;
. standardisation of production systems;
. more discriminating consumers; and
. a movement against preferential trade agreements.

Regarding expansion in global trade, the minister noted that there was an inconsistency in the expansion of trade in global markets. "Developing countries have opened their markets, but the developed countries still keep some of their markets restricted," he said. "The transportation sector in the United States is an example of this, where developing countries are required to have export licences to operate in that market."

Concerning the expansion in the growth of firms, the reality of many Caribbean and local businesses that were family-owned and reluctant to open up to public participation was seen as a limiting factor to exploiting the opportunities of expanded world markets.
Looking specifically at how the above changes would impact on the local and regional private sector, Hylton argued that Jamaica had joined the Caricom agreement to create "a single market space for the local private sector".

Hylton suggested that the private sector had to adopt a proactive role in taking advantage of trade agreements that the Government had negotiated.
Additionally, he stated that the private sector must become involved in making investments in improved production standardisation systems.
Turning to another challenge that the private sector faced from globalisation, he said that global markets tended to focus on large firms.

"Local companies will have to develop joint ventures," said Hylton. "Small firms will have less of a chance of survival. The Jamaican private sector must fall in line with this trend."
The minister then challenged the local private sector to invest their expertise and resources to support Government in trade negotiations. "We seldom benefit from the top leadership of the private sector," he said.

For his part, Ambassador Richard Bernal, director-general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, the body that conducts negotiation for Caricom and Cariforum (Caricom plus the Dominican Republic), addressed the specific issue of how the private sector can become involved in the process of securing the interests of developing countries.

Bernal made the point that developing countries no longer represented a homogeneous group of countries but rather a diverse group of over 100. Despite this, he said alliances could still be built on the bases of common interests, even if this related to overall policy rather than specific areas.

He recommended that the private sector become involved in the critical step of setting goals for trade policy. "Trade policy must be linked to economic development. The private sector must be involved in setting the agenda, not just in reacting to it," he said.
He cited the European Union (EU) partnership agreement as an instance where the region set the trade agenda and wasn't merely responding to someone else's agenda and suggested that this is the way forward.

Bernal mentioned strategic alliances as a practical strategy that the local private sector could adopt to protect its interests. In addition, he reiterated the importance of the private sector getting involved in the process of formulating goals.

"The private sector must make its interests known to Government so that its concerns can be included in trade agreements," he said.
Apparently not wanting to chide the private sector, he said: "Sometimes the leadership of the private sector does not turn up for meetings. The hour is late. You can run, but you can't hide from globalisation, it is a reality."

He reminded the private sector representatives that it is the private sector that trades and not Government. He also encouraged them to build relationships with other private sector groups in other countries as had occurred with rum interests.

In what could be interpreted as a swipe at the private sector, Bernal noted that some members tended to attend meetings where funding was provided by external donor agencies. In this regard, he noted that the private sector must attend trade meetings regularly and encouraged collaboration and networking as a means of facilitating their attendance and regular participation in trade meetings.

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