Keith Desmond Knight ‘The country has put itself in a competitive position’

Q: Minister Knight, which plans have you implemented to recover from the Trade Deficit you recorded for the last six months of last year, and what are the major challenges you are facing in implementing this?
A: One has to examine how the deficit came about. Analyzing of the figures, it shows that we had a lot of importation of capital goods which is not a negative thing, because it means that the country is putting itself in a competitive position to increase productivity. The trade deficit should not be looked at in short periods, but as a trend, in terms of what can be realized from the importation of capital goods.

In increasing our productivity and improving our competitiveness, we are putting ourselves in a position to export more. We are creating the market for greater exports in a number of areas. One is the establishment of a single market and economy. This means that we have a larger market place and that if we are competitive, then we will be able to penetrate the European and US market, in particular we are equipping ourselves to enter the Free Trade Area of the Americas. We are talking about a market place of some 800 million people, so the essence of it is to become competitive and penetrate the market place. With those policies, we believe that we will be able to adjust and have a positive trade balance.

Q: Minister Knight, you mentioned expanding trade with the European market, we know that most of the foreign policy has been focused on the American treaties. How important is the European market for Jamaica?
A: It is very important in terms of our agricultural produce, in particular sugar, bananas and alumina.

Q: How about in terms of exporting services to the European repair market or the UK market. We know that Jamaica is placing emphasis on creating a city which can provide services to Europe, while we are sleeping there you could be doing some work for us here.
A: We see the service industry as the way forward, so we are basically putting ourselves in a position to be able to exploit the opportunities that are there. We feel that the European market place, again in the Free Trade Area of the Americas, is where we have to concentrate a lot of our effort. Because of bilateral arrangements between Jamaica and the UK, there is room for the exploitation of this.

Q: British export actually increased by 17 percent last year, it has been increasing year by year. What are your expectations for this year?
A: Even though British export increased by 17 percent, the fact is that we had a positive trade balance with the UK.

Q: Jamaica is relatively a small market in size, but not in population. With the efficiency you can provide in services, what position do you think Jamaica will actually hold within the Caricom region? It is suggested that you should try to make it more integrated.
A: The creation of a single market and economy is the step towards total economic integration. As I mentioned before, this is a wider market place and it is the training ground for Caricom countries, including Jamaica, to be able to compete in the extra regional market. What we have to do is to equip ourselves to be able to compete in Caricom and beyond this market. Caricom itself expands the market place and provides the opportunity to be able to compete within it and therefore, to exploit the extra regional market.

Q: How intense is the competition within the Caricom market? Is it in terms of trading with the external markets, such as the American or the European markets?
A: Yes, in particular between Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.

Q: One of the subjects we are covering is foreign investment, how to attract foreign investors into the island and what opportunities exist. We would like to ask you what opportunities do you see for British investors and in what areas of the market?
A: That is a question for Jampro, but I will deal firstly with why foreign investors should come in and from that, we will see what opportunities are there. We have a stable exchange rate, low inflation, a well trained workforce, and institutions that are necessary to create a good economic climate. Therefore, the opportunities for foreign investment would be in areas of agriculture, processing and tourism, in particular the creation of resort areas that represents health tourism. The climatic conditions are there and we also have opportunities in the music industry.

Q: What would you say about projects that have been implemented by the Government, such as the project "legs and regs" or the "Perf Project", programme to reduce crime?
A: In the "Legs and Regs" there is the need to cut the bureaucracy, for this it is important that investors know precisely what is expected of them, so there is certainty in terms of the things they must do.
The regulations are necessary, but the bureaucracy must not be such as to militate against doing business in an easy way. It is a form of business facilitation and therefore, the Government and the private sector are working together to create a climate where business people can operate without frustration.

Q: How difficult is it for foreign companies to operate in the business market? As Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, you are aware that many people are concerned about coming to Jamaica. What is the major challenge that is being faced?
A: It is generally accepted that the crime problem is a disincentive to investors, but we have to understand the nature of the problem and that investments need not take place only in Kingston and St. Andrew, where the crime problem is concentrated. In deed, in the tourist industry most of the investments are in rural Jamaica, a tourist belt and crime free area.

Jamaica is encouraging investors to go rural, because of its policy for rural development. One of the difficulties we have had, because of the concentration of industries within the corporate area, is a rural urban drift. What we want to do is contain that, so the encouragement is for investments to take place outside the corporate area. That is why such emphasis is being placed on developing the infrastructure.

You would have heard of the North Coast Highway and of Highway 2000. These are all attempts to open transportation links, to ensure and facilitate the easy movement of produce and goods.

Q: Yesterday we had an interview with Minister Assamba and she was very upset. She was taking any opportunity to speak out and say that Jamaica is not only about crime, drug trade and that the crime was only in Kingston. Outside of this city there are beautiful regions where people can go, with huge potential for tourism, with no crime and corruption. People have this misperception of Jamaica that the media has created and which needs to be rectified.
A: I think it should be, because like in any country of the world, there are areas with a concentration of criminal activities. Perhaps of the size of some of these countries, it is not reported that the country is crime ridden.

There is a city in Minneapolis referred to as "murderapolis" and there are several places where it is dangerous to go. But generally speaking, the United States is not referred to as a dangerous country.

Not long ago, tourists were endangered in Miami, they were subjected to robberies, rapes and so on. So all we seek is a balance, we do not take an ostracized approach to the problem. This is affecting us locally and internationally, and we are trying to deal with it. But the majority of areas in Jamaica are places where people can move very freely, as they say nowadays 24/7. So the investor is encouraged to come, because there is the right economic climate.

Q: Recently you signed a memorandum with the UK, in terms of fighting against the drug trade. What is your feedback and expectations out of this memorandum? Can you highlight the key objective of it?
A: Drug trade has three main objectives: reduce production, distribution and abuse. Jamaica is a producing country of marijuana and we have taken steps to control the production of marijuana, so with the United States there is a cooperation agreement.

In terms of distribution, Jamaica is a transshipment point. We have been working with the UK and the US, for the control of our territorial waters to prevent the easy movement of cocaine in and out. We also have been working with these two countries and Canada, for the control of our sea and airports. This way we can ensure that the border control security is in place to prevent the contamination of cargo, the easy movement of drug mules to any of these countries and most importantly, an enhanced intelligence system. With this cooperation we expect a reduction in the three areas mentioned.

Drug abuse is something where the effort will be totally domestic, but we have international assistance in dealing with this problem. The way our policy works is to create some synergy between the supply and the demand side, so it is basically an integrated approach. If we cut down on demand, then supply will fall. So it is not a matter of dealing simply with the supply or the demand, it is dealing with them together.

Q: The UK has always been a very important partner for Jamaica and visa versa. The trade and unilateral relations have been good, but suddenly the British Government has decided to implement the visa requirement.
A: I would not say suddenly. We have been in dialogue about this for sometime, and it is a matter of the UK taking a decision based upon their national interest. They have said that they have imposed visa requirements, because a number of Jamaicans breeches the immigration laws, they enter for a specified period and they overstay. Every country wants its laws to be respected, certainly the immigration laws are as important as any other is, so if persons overstay in a country, it can put certain pressures on your social services, etc.

They took that decision and we recognize the right of it, but we do not agree with the exercise of that right in these particular circumstances. Visas by themselves do not prevent overstaying. If someone stays longer, it is not a result of the mode of entry, but from the fact of entry.

We believe that there is a positive side that we can examine, visas at least facilitate entry. When one is granted a visa and gets to the particular border, one expects to enter that country unless there is something that comes to the fore, which would militate against the entry. If one travels to a country where a visa is not required prior to arrival, you are at the mercy of the immigration officers, so there is great uncertainty to whether or not you will be permitted to entry. When one arrives and is refused entry, then it is a great loss of an air trip.

Q: Obviously, the visa issue had an impact on Jamaica and Jamaica's perception of the relationship that you had with the UK. Do you think this will have any repercussions on the financial agreement you have for the future and on the relationship?
A: There are those who view it as an unfriendly act, others who think it is an ill advised act, and there are those who view it as a necessary act by the United Kingdom, they are the ones that view it with concern. When we look at all of those views, we see that the relationship between the UK and Jamaica has not been significantly altered.

Q: What are your future objectives? And What are you expecting to achieve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade?
A: To conclude negotiations in the various theatres, which will facilitate Jamaica's entry into the wider trading environment, to ensure our ability to produce, compete and enjoy growth, sustainable development and eradicate poverty.

Q: That is a big job.
A: Big job, but this is what it is all about, what we all strive for.

Q: When we went to the panel discussion headed by Jampro last week, Miss Pauline Grey spoke about the Caricom and how they interact with each other during international trade negotiations. She spoke of the larger need of the Caribbean countries to coordinate their policies and objectives, in order to be more proactive and achieve more in a shorter space of time in international trade agreements. How would you term the corporation now regionally? How would you see it improving? And where are the key factors that you are working on?
A: The cooperation now is excellent. The Caricom countries understand the importance of the coordinated approach, because individual countries would not be able to make any significant impact in the various negotiating theatres. But when 15 countries come together out of a group of 34, not withstanding their sizes, their voices must be heard.

The Caricom countries have all accepted the coordinated approach and we do so in the negotiating theatres, through the Caribbean regional negotiating machinery. This is a body charged with the responsibility of getting the individual country interest coordinated, to become a Caricom interest. That is the lead negotiating body for Caricom and it leads in the FTAA process, in WTO, ACP, EU, Caricom Central American, Caricom Dom Rep and Costa Rica. What I am demonstrating is that in all these areas the machinery is working.

The machinery needs strengthening, because of the multiplicity of arenas in which we have to be negotiating and the complexity of the negotiations. Then it has to deal, recognize the levels of development and size of economies, within Caricom itself as it struggles to achieve special and differential treatment for the region. Even within the regions there are challenges, but (a) the countries in Caricom recognize the need for an integrated approach, (b) there is a mechanism in place to coordinate and lead negotiations.

Q: One more question, which is somewhat different and which refers to your previous post and your relationship with the Ancham Project. We spoke to Mrs. Stockhausen, we had read about it in the newspapers and were not aware of it when we came to Jamaica. But having lived in many different countries and having seen many places where crime is an issue, we see this as a very unique project. It has never been done before in the world and you have been very much involved in this. Can you export this model and will Jamaica, if this is successful, actually support this kind of model?
A: We certainly actively support this kind of model. I do not know if we have a patent on it, so we cannot say whether we would export it or not. If it works, we would be open to other countries coming in and seeing how we approached it, how it was born, it has been implemented and what the achievements are. To fight crime there has to be recognition that the problem exists, its nature, and then recognize that the Government by itself cannot solve it. It is necessary an integrated approach.

The Government must provide an efficient police force; so one has to look how does a Government make a police force efficient. The Government must work with the civil society to create structures, which allow free communication, and as I used to put it, civil society must have access to the development implementation and monitoring of policies. So it has to be a symbiotic relationship. What is also key in all of this is that civil society must be very widely defined if for example, problems occur in inner city communities, up town people do not constitute civil society, down town inner city people are the ones that make up a civil society. They must see themselves as one, suffering and having a role in helping to solve the problem, and the mechanism must be in place for them to be an integral part of the process.

So having spoken with Chuck …. and explained very carefully what the concept and the desire was, he went away and put together a plan which we accepted and began the process of implementation. Of course, the business sector has played an important role in it, in particular Betty Stockhausen. One of the interesting parts of this process, is the fact that we were getting help from the United States. First of all, we had to get a waiver from the State Department for USAID to help to fund a policing project, because that has never been done before. Secondly, to get an act of Congress to it. Now we are building model police stations, which must be seen as an important part of a community.

A police station is not a place where people simply go to report a crime; it must be an integrated area. When it becomes integrated in the community, people work with the police to prevent crime.