Chairman of the Sagicor Group, Richard Byles, says that improvement in Jamaica’s human capital within both the public and private sectors should be an essential part of national development and transformation plans.

“While in Jamaica we are lacking financial capital, we certainly aren’t lacking in human capital. For one thing, one of our major objectives in any development plan must be to educate Jamaicans, on any level, to be the best, no matter their career or job choice,” Byles stated.

He emphasised that competition in human capital at the regional and international levels will highlight the need to prioritise training and capacity building at the national level.

Having recently retired as Sagicor’s CEO and president to assume chairmanship of the group, Byles was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Mona School of Business & Management (MSBM) Third Annual Business and Management Conference at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa in Montego Bay.

During his address, Byles explored several current and pressing issues of national interest, including strategies for growing the Jamaican economy, the need for greater collaboration between the public and private sectors, as well as the importance of establishing policies that will result in the improvement of human capital in order to drive growth.

“It is imperative that the government of Jamaica works in conjunction with the private sector. As a country without a large domestic market that can generate internal growth, we have to look towards the global marketplace. This means we have to be fit, ready, agile, and concentrate all our resources to therefore have an impact. We must also ask ourselves, what can Jamaica supply that the world needs and no one else is supplying?”

He implored attendees to recognise the developmental challenges that face the country and the region, and encouraged the use of creative solutions to combat these problems.

“By creating a vision and a map — for ourselves, our businesses, and our country — we can measure our journey and performance as we go along,” he concluded.

The conference was held under the theme “Driving Transformation, Finance, Enterprise Development and Wealth Creation”, and sought to analyse broadly the role and impact of finance in enterprise development, especially in the context of small developing economies.

The event featured several locally and internationally recognised figures in business and academia, and included a number of topical plenary sessions as well as a special ‘Business Roundtable’.

In his opening remarks, MSBM Acting Executive Director Michael Williams stated that the conference was aimed at encouraging discourse on wealth creation and development in the Jamaican business sector.

“I am pleased that continuation of this conference will serve to influence business education and vital research on Jamaica and the Caribbean region. MSBM has placed emphasis on the importance of practical solutions, and through this conference we seek to highlight the need to address these issues by creating forward-thinking solutions,” Williams declared.