Chamber wants closer Govt-private sector ties

CLOSER ties between Government and the private sector are essential for Trinidad and Tobago’s economic success. This opinion was expressed by TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce president Christian Mouttet, when he addressed a breakfast meeting at the Chamber’s Westmoorings headquarters yesterday. Mouttet said a recent study by Georgetown University professor, Martin Staab, on public-private sector relationships in developing countries, indicated that “countries where governments have a close relationship with the private sector have much greater economic success.” He said it was instructive to note that from 1980 to 1997, TT’s Business Friendly Index ranking increased from 0.44 to 0.6 and within the last two decades of the study, “governments in all countries, without exception, moved to a more cooperative and friendly relationship with the private sector.”

The Chamber president said several key benefits were to be derived from improved public-private sector relations, “including financial and operational efficiency and an improved level of service which, together will spur economic growth.” Mouttet added, “While public-private partnerships receive the most attention and are the most common form of alliance between the public and private sectors, this alternative form of government procurement is a long-term relationship to secure public infrastructure. “In the meantime, although it is not given much weight, both sectors interact with each other on a daily basis, affecting business performance and productivity, impacting on employees, employers and society as well as the economy,” said Mouttet.