EDITORIAL - It must be a partnership of more than glitz

The initiative launched last Wednesday night, to be executed over the next two years, wins our endorsement, and represents the kind of public-private sector partnership of which this newspaper hopes there will be plenty more.

We refer to the project, dubbed 'Meet Jamaica at London 2012', in which Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro), the Government's trade and investment promotion agency, and the umbrella Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) will attempt to leverage the island's global athletics brand and the Olympic Games in marketing the country's goods and service.

As we understand it, Jampro, starting now, and leading up to the Olympics, will utilise its presence and promotional capacities in London to seek out trade and trade-related events which Jamaican firms should find of value.

The PSOJ will mobilise its members, many of whom are already on-board and driving the initiatives, to participate in these events. And in London, at the time of the Olympics, there will be Jamaican-themed events to promote products and the island as an investment location.

In other words, this is a long, and hopefully, sustained, push to translate the brand that our athletes have helped to fashion into more, and hard, economic outcomes that are evident on farms, in factories, and offices, and beyond what accrues on the running tracks and in people's heads.

Back-end work needed

Or, as Sancia Bennett Templer, the president of Jampro, noted: "Our partnership ... with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica is a bold programme of business missions and promotional events that when implemented will allow the target audiences in the UK to experience authentic Jamaican products and services and compel them to want more."

Hopefully, this will happen. But only if the partners can sustain the effort beyond last Wednesday's glitzy launch ceremony and up to the Olympics ... and beyond.

But having consumers wanting more of our goods and services can't be an end in itself. Our firms, factories, and farms have to be able to deliver high-quality goods at competitive prices. In that regard, the partnership is more than what takes place in trade pavilions. There is much back-end work, which, as translated by Joseph M. Matalon, the PSOJ's president, means "appropriate public policy" to support the efforts of entrepreneurs.

If we get this right, Jamaican businesses, as Mr Matalon said, will "create sustainable jobs and provide resources through the tax system that will support the delivery of efficient public services and public investments that will promote productivity and growth in the local economy".

Jamaica cannot afford not to get it right. Not if we are serious about economic growth and national development.

• Karl Samuda and the bureaucrats

Mr Karl Samuda, the trade and investment minister, is unlikely to be a very popular man today among public-sector bureaucrats. He regained his freedom and told some truths.

Last week, the minister described bureaucracy as "the greatest pick-pocket there is", often denying the private sector the space to "go about the business of creating wealth".

But defeating bureaucracy, as Mr Samuda conceded, is not an easy fight, especially for a minister whose portfolio offers substantial distractions. And bureaucrats are tough resisters.

This is why we again suggest that the job of untangling red tape and bureaucracy should be entrusted to an undistracted, Cabinet-level czar, whose reputation is likely to be built on the outcome of his or her effort.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.