| An entrepreneurial spirit is critical to the success of small countries in the global market place. Smaller nations cannot compete in major commodity areas, such as downstream processing of consumer and industrial goods, with giant economies such as China and India. Entrepreneurs identify niches in markets where their value-added goods and services can be achieved. And this helps strengthen a country both economically and socially.
What about job creation?
There is a prevailing attitude in T&T that the country needs large industrial businesses that employ a lot of people to move forward. The problem with large businesses is that they are generally not particularly creative and have a limited capacity to create significant value adding. They also tend to move from one country to another as tax incentives and changing economic circumstances alter the marketplaces within which they operate. In many small countries it is actually the small and medium sized enterprises that provide the greatest employment opportunities. New Zealand is a good example. Over 95% of the country’s businesses are SMEs (employing 50 people or less) and unemployment is only 3.6%. |
