Making a National Entrepreneur | Local Business

Former Treasury Minister Mariano Brown says economic development and economic growth do not mean the same thing. Economic growth is measured by quantitative financial terms such as growth in gross national product or real national income, the latter adjusted for inflation to measure real purchasing power. However, national development is multifaceted and refers to both quantitative (income growth) and qualitative (increasing living standards) processes and policies through which the economy improves the social, economic and political well-being of its people. is incorporated. Provides sustainability. Therefore, it is imperative to make the most of human resources as a shrinking workforce. Given that the energy sector cannot sustain prices and production forever, population aging cannot generate sustainable income growth. Thus, he says, the performance of our economic system is limited by its ability to generate entrepreneurship and innovation, or to cope with a culture of dependence. At , we rely on the quality of our education, training, R&D, and innovation systems with myriad interconnections between related entities and processes.

There are two important issues hidden above. The first is the current state and history of entrepreneurship in the country, and the second is that the increasing availability of robots and artificial intelligence is helping to create much-needed entrepreneurs, even in a shrinking workforce. how to generate The labor required in an economy to produce the goods and services needed. So the people employed will be more productive.

Supporting the view of the important role that entrepreneurs play in economic development, the current literature states that the four factors of economic development are actually capital, labor, land, and entrepreneurship, with the last factor being Knowledge, technical prowess, innovation network and the ability to take risks to build a business. A fundamental factor driving economic sustainability.

A research paper “The Role of the Caribbean Entrepreneur in Economic Development- Strategy and Process” by Dr. Natasha Ramkissoon-Babwah seeks to define the history of entrepreneurial types available in the region. The first is foreign entrepreneurs, early planters and traditional absentee owners of plantations in the region’s history. The colonial state played a decisive role in blocking the emergence of indigenous entrepreneurship. Because the colonized people were intended as a labor force, they did not allow access to the kinds of freedom and capital necessary for the emergence of entrepreneurship. colonial economic activity.

Then there was the commercial entrepreneur, a local class made up of white, Chinese, and mostly white groups. This class focused on activities in the commercial and service sector areas. Their reach was limited by the dominance of the foreign ruling class, limiting wealth generation, manufacturing and energy production.

Another group was family entrepreneurs engaged in small businesses such as agriculture, light industry, arts and crafts, and commerce. As a family business, its expansion was limited by the resources, will and ability of family members.

Then there is the informal sector of unorganized, tax-free guerrilla entrepreneurs.

This mode of operation is not effectively developmental and does not produce economic development. However, the state entrepreneurs in the region were established to provide a combination of financial credit and business support services to foster start-ups and existing entrepreneurs. There is potential for growth and development, and contribution to local wealth by state-funded entrepreneurs.

Today, T&T’s economy is dominated by foreign entrepreneurs in the oil sector, providing few jobs to the population, but a large portion of the rent for the land sector to function. Commercial entrepreneurs thrive on importing goods (using rent) and providing services to the population. The country as a facilitator exists with the hope of supporting small indigenous entrepreneurs and attracting more foreign entrepreneurs.

This is T&T’s economic history since its inception. It may have provided years of economic growth, but it is not really economic development. and take over, and provide the foreign currency needed to sustain our small, open economy as natural resources become depleted.

Still, there is currently little export activity by commercial and family entrepreneurs (statistical outliers). This is due to the availability of foreign exchange domestically and the local exchange rate, which is said to be overvalued, which discriminates against local production. It is more profitable and less risky to simply import it, distribute it domestically, and sell it because it is favorable to imports. Therefore, while many seek his TT$ devaluation to encourage these entrepreneurs to export, this solution suggests the promotion of import substitution.

However, AmCham, private sector organizations, and governments, for example, now encourage involvement in nearshoring, generally encouraging foreign manufacturers and others from whom they import to locate facilities locally. increase. Even the goods they export and currently import to T&T are cheaper to produce locally. Isn’t this why our entrepreneurs do the same and export?

But, as Professor John Foster tells us, such a history has made indigenous commercial entrepreneurs very rigid and unadaptable in their outlook, mindset and potential activities, and expatriates. could have taken over the entrepreneurial role of This view is supported by the Peruvian philosopher Salazar Bondi. This is a mindset generated by the historical role played by its entrepreneurial class.

In fact, I have been working in this field for decades to strengthen the role of the state as an entrepreneur, calling for governments to take charge of national innovation systems along the triple helix. Together with Research and Development Institutes (UWI, UTT) to gather knowledge, engage in research and development, and use government funding, its marketing and market development agencies, a new class of entrepreneurs to bring foreign entrepreneurs to the global market. Create inventions, inventions that can be replaced by products and services.