In a historic gathering last Wednesday, leaders of 21 Jamaican private sector bodies convened a Council of Presidents, signalling that they were forming a barrier against the worsening economic tide, and setting an example of leadership for the nation at a time of crisis.

The show of unity was significant for the fact that leaders of the private sector organisations had not always been able to come together in such a forum, because of various issues that have included policy differences, political outlook and even professional egos. They immediately urged other groups, particularly politicians to follow their lead.

The Observer spoke with 11 of the leaders who could be reached over the weekend about their reason for coming together in the Council of Presidents. The other leaders at the meeting were: Patrick Hylton, Jamaica Bankers Association; Roger Hinds, Shipping Association of Jamaica; Milton Samuda, Jamaica Chamber of Commerce; Keith Smith, Manchester Chamber of Commerce; Horace Wildes, St Ann Chamber of Commerce; Henry Rainford, Jamaica Livestock Association; Michael McMorris, the In-Bond Merchants Association; Dorothea Gordon-Smith, Women Business Owners Association; Ilsa duVerne, Jamaica Customer Service Association and Prunella Vassell, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica.

The times are unprecedented – Edwin Wint, president Realtors Association of Jamaica

The Council of Presidents is unprecedented but times are unprecedented given the whole economic climate and given the economic pressure building here. I believe it is opportune for this to happen and it needs to continue because then you’ll have a grouping representing the private sector that can dialogue with Government, which is much wider than the PSOJ alone. There is not sufficient dialogue with the Government and civil society. It will not be a short-term solution to a short-term problem. It needs to be a long-term position with respect to a large body that can maintain engagement with the government of the day. That is exactly what I am going to lobby for if that’s not what the intent was.

We’re leading by example – Omar Azan, president Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association

We are leading by example and we would like to see the two political parties doing the same thing because this is a time of crisis. These are not normal times and I think we need to get our priorities straight and the priority is Jamaica and the people that live within Jamaica, from the poor to the rich and I think we need to all come together as one. The meeting was the first step. It is not about being president or presidents, it’s about Jamaica and we all coming together as one. I doubt that egos will take over because once it’s being done from the heart then it will last. To be stronger and better we need to all be together. You can’t have a team with only one or two guys playing, the entire team has to work together.

Economic tsunami coming – Reynold Scott, chairman Jamaica Developers Association

I think the meeting is critical at this time when the nation is clearly facing an economic crisis. It is important that all the players in the various markets come together in solidarity to support the nation and its economic survival. In crises like we’ve had in hurricanes, everyone in this country seems to be willing to band together and I think they see this as a kind of economic tsunami coming. Fear brings out that kind of solidarity. That’s why I had them all say the National Anthem as a prayer. It was a very moving moment it seemed to me from the response.and in difficult times, it was directing us to take the moral high ground. There was a distinct agreement and a genuine response because they called for a meeting and the proposal was a month and most people said ‘no, the next two weeks’ so there was a kind of expectation that if we kept together those contending issues would probably be a basis to advocate for and improve upon the meeting. There is hope but we all need to give it support to ensure that we put nation first beyond our own personal needs.

Our back is against the wall – Lloyd B Smith, president Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce

I thought it was a most timely encounter. Clearly the country’s back is against the wall so we had no choice but to do otherwise. It was a about the bigger picture about how we as a nation survive against the backdrop of the worldwide recession. What is instructive here is that the crisis as we see it has in fact humbled a lot of these personalities because no longer can one person stand up and say ‘I have all the answers’ and what I think of that meeting is that everyone was desperately seeking answers/solutions and I got the impression that everyone had come to the conclusion that the only way we could arrive at solutions is by knocking heads together rather than by operating in isolation from each other.

We’re at a crossroads – Wayne Cummings, President Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association

It was long overdue but there’s no time like the present. I think the approach we took was quite responsible because in a lot of instances it has really been adversarial, government versus private sector. Government has its own challenges and so do we, so we’re going to have to work through this thing from the point of view of partnership. I have one major challenge though: this is one time when the budget presentation ought not just to be a PR exercise in April. It needs to be properly articulated to the business sector so that we can start preparing ourselves for any major changes that may occur. It’s not business as usual. The government has to do what is best to protect the fiscal position of the country but at the same time, we’re at a crossroads where everybody has to know and be able to predict the level of fallout or the level of growth that is feasible.

Practical problem-solving and brain storming

– Chris Zacca, president Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica

The entire country is feeling the effects of the global crisis and a serious budget is coming up. The Government is facing the twin pressures of saving jobs through manufacturing and production and finding money to fund these things and keep the economy afloat. It’s a problem and it’s going to take serious dialogue between the private sector and Government and the Opposition, which has started with the social partnership. A lot of us felt that as a private sector, we ourselves needed to find that unity and develop the relationship so that when we talk we don’t contradict each other and to build a relationship where we all unite in the face of tough times. It would create a sense of greater confidence in the business community when we get all the different minds together to think up solutions, something like a brain trust. The mere fact that you have people getting together with the same interest and talking in a spirit of mutual respect and trust, you must get some good ideas. The other thing is that the people of Jamaica need some examples to be set from the various constituents of the social partnership, to show that we have confidence that we’re going to come out of this and that we’re willing to put Jamaica above sectoral interests. So there’s a bit of symbolism and there’s a bit of the practical problem-solving and brain storming.

We talked about the high interest rates and how we can work through that with the Government…in a way that doesn’t create any damage or shocks to the economy, as well as the need to promote foreign exchange earnings which means a much greater focus on export of goods and services, including tourism, and what strategies can be employed to push people in that direction

Jamaica likened to a sinking ship – Kenneth Shaw, president Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association

The group was very cohesive and productive. We were of the same accord. We all thought that the way forward was to be united and that we should all play a greater part in putting workable solutions to the current problems to the Government. It (Jamaica) was likened to a sinking ship with holes in it. Some of us have to paddle, some have to bail water, some have to try and patch the holes but together with the Government and the Opposition, if we all work in unison, we should pull through. We looked at the whole idea of dollarisation, on which there have been two or three studies, which will help us now by bringing stability and it will also probably heighten our international image because we’d have a stable currency. We are not producing enough and we have to adhere to the policy of growing what we eat and eating what we grow rather than relying on imports because that will stretch out the entire foreign exchange system. Agriculture, in my mind and in the minds of most other people, should be the way forward because we have the labour, we have the land, we just need to get the technology in place to deal with that.

We have work to do – Michael Lumsden, president Jamaica Exporters Association

The meeting was important to affirm and to signal that the private sector organisations are willing and able to collaborate at this time in the interest of our members and the country. It is also important that we also signal that it is not just for the private sector but for government and opposition party in order to really work out this way forward. There are a number of issues that affect all of our industries and sectors and we recognise it so we have put together an advocacy position that encourages discussion on policy decisions. I did get a feeling that the attendees to the meeting were resolved that we need to work together and that we can, if we work together create opportunities and out of this crisis perhaps emerge even stronger going forward but this is just one meeting so we have to see. We have work to do. We have to align our work and work plans because we have a number of national development programmes on the table: Vision 20/30, the PSOJ and Government’s national summit, the national export strategy and the social MoU which all require efficient implementation.

The real test is to come – Andrew Levy, president Insurance Association of Jamaica

I was very encouraged by it. I think it’s the situation that we’re in, it’s a time for a joining of effort. If we continue to be divisive, as Jamaicans tend to be, I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere. We need to recognise the gravity of the situation and come up with a solution or a series of actions that give some leadership to the country and seek to help Jamaica out of the crisis that we are in at the moment. Individual positions won’t be enough. What Jamaica needs now is to produce, whether it is manufacturing or export services or whatever, to employ people so that they have the ability to support themselves and their families and that’s how we will find our way out of where we are, but we have to make some choices and we have to do it together and not fighting each other. There are obviously different interests in the private sector, hotel, banking insurance, exporters, all sorts of different positions so one prescription might be good for one set but not another. We also have the broader country with the national politics so I think it was good to see the private sector come together like this. It was a starting point. We talked about the really significant issues.we will meet again to deal with the specifics but this particular meeting was just to see if we thought there was common ground and there was. It was positive. The real test is going to be whether it comes up with anything and whether we communicate and work with each other and the ministries and the Bank of Jamaica and so to help the situation.

A significant paradigm shift – Wayne Chen, president Jamaica Employers Association

There was a very good spirit, a spirit of unity. People were really united out of the concern for the future of Jamaica especially in the face of the global financial crisis. There were’nt many differences, people were all together. It was best summed up when someone said ‘we’re not here to oppose, we’re here to find better solutions’. I certainly think the enthusiasm and high level of interest will last because I see it as just a component in the bigger social partnership dialogue that is currently taking place between Government, Opposition, labour, the private sector and civil society. The difficulty has always been to get people from different sectors to do their own homework and the fact now that the leaders of all the private sector associations can get together to discuss private enterprise is very important because at the end of the day it is business that is going to drive economic growth so our role in the social partnership is clearly defined. To get consensus on how to achieve that role, it is necessary that the different players meet on a regular basis to really help the policy prescriptions, share concerns with other sectors to ensure that we are moving in a unified way. The first success we have already had is private sector sitting down with other social partners but outside of that, by creating a forum for dialogue among businesses that are competing and the fact alone that they have come together to be cooperative is evidence of a significant paradigm shift.

Mysterious hand at work – Edward Chin-Mook, president Small Business Association of Jamaica

The move to constitute a Council of Presidents is one which I wholeheartedly embrace and will forever be working to keep vibrant, active and current.

Right now I believe that there’s a mysterious hand at work called ‘divide and conquer’ and with unity there is always strength and right now although we’re going through an economic meltdown, there are also a lot of social problems which we have not yet started tackling as a group, such as crime, the education system and other such problems impacting the lives of all Jamaicans. For now we are going issue by issue because we don’t want to make it seem as if it clouds the responsibilities of each organisation but the bigger picture is that there are other things, which having a council that can meet at the drop of a pin in terms of leveraging opportunities for our individual members, will serve.

It was very timely, albeit it had to be convened because of the whole economic crisis but even before the economic crisis, I saw where it was necessary for all the associations presidents to come together and to look critically at the various issues on the table. It’s a meeting I have been lobbying for since I became president of the Small Business Association from 2007.