Falklands : Presidents Address to the Chamber of Council Annual General Meeting 18th August 2011
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 27.08.2011 (Article Archived on 10.09.2011)
We thank Keith Biles for continuing as our Company Secretary and Pam Budd who due to work commitments has decided to stand down for her work as Treasurer, all the Chamber Council who give a lot of their time for meetings and our representatives who sit on Government committees. I would also thank Naomi Summers and her sister Sandra.
Presidents Address to the Chamber of Council Annual General Meeting 18th August 2011
We thank Keith Biles for continuing as our Company Secretary and Pam Budd who due to work commitments has decided to stand down for her work as Treasurer, all the Chamber Council who give a lot of their time for meetings and our representatives who sit on Government committees. I would also thank Naomi Summers and her sister Sandra.
The growth of the economy due to Oil Exploration and an improved Illex catch has provided some temporary but welcome insulation from the world’s economic troubles. Rising fuel prices and the inflation rate up to 11% are causing issues for many of our members.
My foreword to the Economic Development Strategy (EDS) stated it is a long term high level strategic plan of action for all those stakeholders in the Falkland economy who are concerned with its success.
It assists policy makers to set the conditions to facilitate the profitable expansion of the Islands economy
It provides the blueprint for all of the Policy Unit’s work (when it exists) and is intended to provide a focus for all of the delivery partners. The success of this strategy will be dependant upon the ability of all parties to take this work forwards to the benefit of all in our community.
Many of the issues have been highlighted in Economic studies of the past, the hours of work required to produce this document by members of all sectors of our society make it essential that these recommendations are acted on in the future if economic growth is to be achieved.
In order to push forwards and work with FIG your council has held quarterly meetings with MLA’s (we would have preferred that these were more open to our members)
We have established the wish to partner with FIDC to improve the understanding and relationship between the Development Corporation and the Chamber. There is still much work to be done but the opportunity to work with FIDC and Chris Coles on the Localization of MPA is a major step in offering our members access to a second market. FIG and Government House are also working hard to achieve real progress and the MPA visit which many members took part in together with our meeting with the new CBF in the Chamber all helped to show MOD the Falkland private sector is willing and able to provide a wide range of services to them. We will try to keep members informed of what progress there is, at present we understand Ministerial approval of the principal is being sought from the UK.
The workshop given by Lewis Clifton and Karen Lee on oil is another example of how Chamber representatives are working on our behalf with FIG and the Oil industry to highlight the opportunities for local business. The Oil operators have been extremely supportive and pleased with local involvement and as outlined in the workshop, we need to learn from the Oil Industry what opportunities and requirements there will be over the next few years. We look forward over the coming year to the arrival of the second rig and the extra activity and employment this will bring.
The use of the Oil Charter plane for movement of passengers and fresh produce is a welcome example of how access to the Islands has been improved. It is worth noting that when the Oil Charter moves to a weekly service that two flights a week will be serviced and supported almost entirely by the Falkland Private sector, the next step must surely be some hard thought being given to MOD utilizing this expertise?
The use of Stanley Airport by CHC to support the Oil helicopter operations with the local involvement that brings is another step forwards in our development.
We must learn from the mistakes made when MPA was first built and the Fishery was declared, when for various reasons minimal local involvement was encouraged. We need to lobby our Government to set in train policies as set out in the EDS to continue to facilitate businesses in the islands benefiting from the activity involved in exploitation of this resource. The benefits to the community for growth in tax revenue and employment are clear. The alternative of an MPA like self contained Oil bubble making little contribution to the economy other than taxes and Royalties, run by overseas contractors is not the vision the Chamber has of the Islands future.
Increases in allocations for data, bandwidth and free overnight downloads are a welcome step from C & W but it has to be shown that we can move with the times in order that our links with the rest of the world do not fail to keep up due to lack of oversight or competition. We see the ability to utilise satellite dishes as an effective mechanism for encouraging innovation and competitive pricing. We look forward to learning the result of the FIG deliberations with Cable and Wireless.
We welcome the appointment of Dick Sawle a former member of our council as the MLA with responsibility for business. Our regular meetings we hope help him keep in touch with private sector views and aspirations.
The Fishing Sector, the driver of our economic prosperity, has provided significant funding to enable a joint review with Government of quota fee levels, a complicated process, the outcome of which will be of critical importance to the Industry and the Islands. It is clear from the first stage of the EDS that the growth in the participation by local companies in the Fishing activity both around the Islands and in South Georgia has benefited government tax revenues, employment and the economy in general.
Whilst the Chamber of Commerce is not privy to the full details of the South American Atlantic Service Ltd (SAAS) service, the resumption of better international freight services is welcomed.
The EDS strategic plan suggests a joint approach between FIG, the service sector and the fishing industry to realise potential benefits of containerization in the Falklands. The collaboration between Consolidated Fisheries and FIG demonstrates the importance of developing local businesses that are capable of contributing towards the high cost of supporting the key infrastructure on which we all depend.
The development opportunities are based on maximising the services industry offering and value obtained from the existing port infrastructure, and the benefits to the fishing and agricultural export industries.
There may also be benefits for many types of imports. Greater choice and competition should assist the consumer and ease the rate of inflation.
The coming tourism season should see a small increase in the number of cruise vessel visitors and we must thank John Pollard for agreeing to represent the Chamber on the Tourism Strategy group which has a number of actions planned to develop tourism.
As outlined above the development of the Islands continues despite the efforts of our neighbours.
The Chamber can only achieve results through the support and hard work of our members; we encourage all of you to give us your views and feedback on our initiatives. We are a lobby group for our member’s interests, we try to represent our members on various boards and to advance the case for business in government, the media and other influential areas, it is particularly pleasing to see John Ferguson and Jimmy Moffatt join the council, we must give you all the opportunity to contribute and take part in forming the Chambers policies. Our future prosperity as an Island depends on enterprise, and so it is imperative that the views of you the business leaders are heard in all matters of economic and public policy.
Thank you all for your continued support of the Chamber.
RKS 18/8/2011
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