BY SHARON AUSTIN | OCT 10, 2022
Minister of Energy and Business, Kerrie Symmonds (right), receiving a copy of the CROSQ Strategic Plan from Executive Director of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Bureau of Standards and Vice Chair of the CROSQ Council, Stuart La Place, while CROSQ’s Chief Executive Officer, Deryck Omar, looks on. (S. Austin/BGIS)
Government is committed to making standards an “indispensable” part of the commercial landscape of this country.
And, Minister of Energy and Business, Kerrie Symmonds, said standards “must be the sine qua non” of everything citizens do.
Mr. Symmonds shared this view today as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 41st CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) Council Meeting, at Baobab Tower, Warrens, St. Michael.
The Minister said the country could not have a serious productive sector, which engaged with the wider world, unless quality and standards were a part of it.
He stated: “The national and regional economic success and … economic growth require an active buy-in by all stakeholders. The stakeholders in Barbados must buy-in to the process and understanding that quality and standards matter, and that they are connected to the actual sustainable development of this country.”
Mr. Symmonds told his audience: “For us to get where we want to be, I believe we have to transform these operational practices in order to align standards with best practices in this region, and to get our community, especially our small business enterprises and our micro enterprises, to see standards as an essential foundation for the services that they want to provide….”
He congratulated CROSQ’s staff members for the excellent work being done. He stated that for the past 20 years, CROSQ had been able to shine in this region, and had an amazing track record.
“CROSQ has raised the bar of expectation for all players, especially in the area of industry, and again facilitated this region’s capacity for trade, and put our business people, especially those related to the manufacturing sector and the industrial enterprise, on a footing where they can access international markets and compete as equals in those markets….
“There is a need for us…to recognise the necessity for this region to cement its own integration and trade effort, and make sure we do not continue to leave unattended and unaddressed some of the burning fundamentals that still continue to nag us.”
Mr. Symmonds also stressed the importance of accreditation. Acknowledging that the region was largely made up of economies involved in services, he lamented that their growth had been stymied because of the failure to have mutual accreditation issues settled.
CROSQ launched its new Strategic Plan 2022-2025 during the meeting, as well as a new project with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, the Organisation for African Caribbean and Pacific States, and funded by the European Union.
