1. OVERCOMING STRUCTURAL BARRIERS TO GROWTH WITH EQUITY
IN SMALL DEVELOPING COUNTRIES LIKE BELIZE
An Address by the Rt. Hon. Said Musa at the
Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin, Germany
June 20th 2012
1. The Challenges to Growth
Many of us were taught at school that during the Middle Ages there
was little or no economic improvement over some eight centuries. Then
came the Industrial Revolution when incomes consistently advanced at a
rate that was extraordinary by any former historical standard. We were then
told to draw the conclusion that technological advance was the origin of
economic growth and that it was in fact the central if not the sole cause of
the industrial revolution.
Since then some economists have argued that inventions in and of
themselves are not the sole or even leading source of prosperity.
Technological innovation is necessary to growth but it is as much a
consequence of economic opportunities as it is their cause. As the argument
goes, it is the growth of markets through trade, colonization and domestic
expansion that is the predominant factor in Western economic development.
The growth of markets was closely associated with the rapid flow and

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dissemination of information which was typically a by-product of expanding
markets and innovation.
The colonization of African, Caribbean, Latin American and Pacific
territories by Western powers provided significant sources of cheap raw
materials and basic commodities for the growing markets and factories in
the metropolitan centres of Europe. The mass extermination of indigenous
people and the inhumanity and abomination of the slave trade that
accompanied imperialism and colonialism stand out as dark clouds in the
evolutionary landscape of capitalism which re-appear ever so often in
modern times whenever man‟s inhumanity to man rears its ugly head.
The poetic writings of Eduardo Galeano in his book: “Open Veins of
Latin America”, the seminal work of Dr. Eric Williams a former Prime Minister
of Trinidad and Tobago in his book: “From Columbus to Castro” and the
penetrating analysis of “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” by the late
Guyanese Professor Walter Rodney provide powerful insights into this sordid
period of history.
But the expansion of markets through trade and colonization with the
spread of information, were not sufficient factors for sustainable growth and
development.

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Our understanding of why countries and economies grew is because
they were able to attain basic thresholds in several key areas. These include
democratic governance, order, peace and political stability; literacy,
educational attainment and health of the population; the distribution of
income-making assets, the availability of financial capital; the development
of legal institutions; the vitality of entrepreneurialism.
Most of these key areas are necessary conditions for sustainable
growth but no one of them is sufficient in itself. The abundance of natural
resources is certainly a blessing but as history shows it can also be a curse.
An equally important factor is the human instinct to improve one‟s material
well-being. It has been said that the first human material motivation is to
acquire adequate food and shelter. The second seems to be security. The
third is apparently power and pleasure including recreation and other
aspects of enjoyment. The fourth is all the complex issues of status and
identity.
The instinct to improve oneself materially is necessary for growth. It
is at the fountain of the enterprising spirit which drives private enterprise.
But as Amartya Sen a Nobel Prize winner in Economics reminds us in his
book “Development as Freedom” it is important to dispute the common
description of Adam Smith – the father of modern economics – as the single-

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minded prophet of self-interest. Smith did point out that the motivation for
mutually beneficial exchanges does not need more than what he called “self-
love”. But he also noted that in dealing with other economic issues like the
rules to be followed for generating productive efficiency, the virtues of
“prudence, humanity, generosity and public spirit are the qualities most
useful.” The profit motive leads far too easily to individualism, selfishness
and greed. Furthermore one‟s basic motivation for self-improvement has
often been undermined by despair, humiliation, poverty and tyranny.
2. Growth in GDP is not Enough
No budget speech by a Minister of Finance is ever complete without
mentioning the rate of growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the
nation. But G.D.P. by no means provides all the information about how well
off we are. When the GDP grows faster so do incomes on average generally.
It does not however measure the nation‟s total wealth – its assets, such as
land, housing and stocks – as opposed to the annual volume of goods and
services made and provided. It does not account for the degradation of the
environment when a hurricane devastates the coast line of a small
Caribbean nation and destroys its physical infrastructure and the poorly
constructed homes of low income citizens. In fact reported G.D.P. usually
increases because more money is spent to rebuild damage high-end
dwellings and hotels. And G.D.P. does not tell us how the nation‟s total

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income is distributed among workers. Higher income workers usually get
most of what the nation produces as has been the case since the late 1970s.
The recent Occupy Wall Street Protest movement demonstrates a
widespread dissatisfaction with the growing economic inequality in our world
today. This is not simply one of the divide between the rich and the poor
countries but also inequality among individuals and groups within societies
both rich and poor.
There are two general indicators of beneficial growth for an economy.
The first is the growth of the workforce. The second is the growth of
productivity or the output per hour of work of all workers. And it is only the
portion of growth due to gains in productivity that is available to raise the
nation‟s living standard. Without productivity gains, any growth in GDP is
exactly offset by population growth and the average income stays the same.
For a small nation like Belize with a population of just 350,000 where 15 to
20 percent represent refugees and economic migrants, who sought refuge in
Belize fleeing the civil conflicts and social unrest in the eighties from
neighbouring El Salvador and Guatemala and other parts of Central America
this question of productivity is critical. Most of these migrants were poor
peasant families (the well to do ones were able to make their way to North
America). There is no doubt that these migrants once settled in their new

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homeland were able to contribute significantly to the growth in agricultural
production for domestic food consumption. However their presence also
created serious additional burdens on the social infrastructure costs of the
nation (the need for new schools, health clinics, potable water systems,
electricity and land surveys, transportation and communication).
Historically, Belize has always been a place of refuge for persecuted and
economically displaced persons in our region from the days of the Caste War
in Mexico in the middle of the 19th century to today‟s economic migrants
from Central America. We have always prided ourselves for living in a
tranquil haven of democracy. But that too comes with serious challenges.
3. The Challenges to growth and shared prosperity
The 21st Century opened with an unprecedented declaration of
solidarity and determination to rid the world of poverty. In the year 2000,
the United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by the largest ever
gathering of heads of state and government, committed countries – rich and
poor – to doing all they can to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity
and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental
sustainability.

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The historical record showed that economic growth was a powerful
force for pulling poor people above the income poverty line, but that such
gains did not automatically happen. Furthermore, these gains can be
dissipated if income inequality widens and poor people do not share
adequately in growth – a phenomenon observed in many countries in recent
years. Over the past two decades income inequality worsened in 33 of 66
developing countries according to a UNDP report.
Joseph Stiglitz the Nobel Laureate for Economics 2002 has written
challenging the received wisdom that there is a systematic relationship
between globalization and growth and between growth and poverty
reduction. He debunked what he called “long discredited trickledown
economics which hold that a rising tide lifts all boats.”
The policy issues, he contends, are not whether “to globalize or not to
globalize” or “to grow or not to grow”. In some cases it is not even to
“liberalize or not to liberalize”. Neither theory nor evidence, he says,
supports the view that opening markets to short term speculative capital
flows increases economic growth. Rather there is considerable evidence and
thought that it increases economic instability and that economic instability
contributes to insecurity and poverty. And even if growth increased slightly,
the form of it might increase poverty especially in countries without

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adequate social safety nets. His conclusion which is irrefutable is that
globalization as it has been practiced is unfair and its benefits have
disproportionately gone to rich corporations and the wealthy elite. The
debate should be on how globalization can be shaped (including the rules of
the game) to better promote growth and reduce poverty in the developing
world.
As Jeffrey Sachs tells us: “The defining challenge of the 21st century
will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded
planet”.
4. A Rising Tide does not lift all Boats
We in the small developing countries are beginning to understand that
our own citizens share a common fate requiring the active role of
government to ensure that every citizen has a chance and means to
participate productively within the society and to curb society‟s dangerous
encroachment on the physical environment. The market economy operates
in most if not all our countries but market forces left to themselves, the so-
called laissez-faire capitalism now fashionably called neo-liberalism, will not
deliver sustained and equitable economic growth without the guiding hand of
overarching principles of social justice and environmental stewardship.

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Paul Collier a Professor of Economics at Oxford University whose study
was focused on African economies, speaks of the Bottom Billion. A group of
about 50 failing states caught in various poverty traps whose problems defy
traditional approaches to alleviating poverty. These poverty traps include
civil war and corrupt governance. Even in countries that may be rich in
natural resources like oil, this blessing often becomes a resource curse
resulting in deepening poverty and inequality. Cost of living skyrockets.
The government indulges in wasteful spending. The politics of patronage,
cronyism and nepotism soon shatters the growth and development of the
nation.
What we can discern from all these studies is that poverty and growing
inequality is an outcome of more than economic policies. It is an outcome of
a failure of political will and capacity to address the human development of a
people through policies that promote economic growth with equity. It is an
outcome of the inability or powerlessness of a people to take charge of their
own lives, to demand and to pursue the social programmes and actions that
promote opportunity and enhance their security.
There is also the crucial and complex role that culture plays in this
process. David Landis in his book “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations”
contends that the key factor in explaining why some countries are able to

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make the leap forward to development and others are not is the cultural
endowments of its people, particularly the values of hard work, thrift,
honesty and tenacity as well as the degree to which it is open to change and
new technology. The beliefs and practices that are part of local culture can
no doubt be a source of sustainable development. But too often customary
practices and discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race, religion,
social status or class are the root sources of pervasive inequality in many
countries.
We have seen from history how racism in the United States and many
countries in Latin America have led to deeply divided and unequal societies.
The extreme poverty of the indigenous Maya and Ketchi people the majority
of the population in the Central American nation of Guatemala can only be
explained by decades of repression and social marginalization. Under a
latifundista system where most of the arable land was owned and controlled
by the wealthy and powerful, the vast majority of the people were left to eke
out a living as subsistence peasant farmers in poor rural communities
lacking even basic health and education facilities, potable water system or
electricity.

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Meanwhile right next door in little Belize a major land reform
programme was initiated by the government of Premier George Price which
transformed the country and greatly reduced the inequality between rural
communities and urban residents.
5. The Human Development Approach
In 1990 a new approach was introduced to assess the development of
nations by putting the condition of people and their quality of life at centre
stage. UNDP Reports began measuring human development by national
income (GDP) but also by life expectancy and literacy. This new approach
was inspired by the creative passion of Muhbub Ul Haq and the ground
breaking work of Amartya Sen, a Pakistani and Indian economist
respectively. The central contention of the human development approach is
that well-being is about much more than money. It is about the possibilities
that people have to fulfill the life plans they have, reason to choose and
pursue.
The human development approach emphasizes empowerment,
equality and sustainability in expanding people‟s choices; people‟s freedoms
and capabilities to lead lives that they value and have reason to value. We
are talking here about the freedoms to live long, healthy and creative lives
to advance other goals and to find fulfillment in doing so.

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Both equity and sustainability are about distributive justice.
Inequalities are especially unjust when they systematically disadvantage
specific groups of people, whether because of gender, ethnicity or birthplace
or when the gap is so great that acute poverty is high. The current
generation destroying the environment for future generations is no different
from a present day group‟s suppressing the aspirations of other groups for
equal opportunities to jobs, health or education.
Most people today live longer, are more educated and have more
access to goods and services than ever before. But income inequality has
deteriorated in many countries and regions.
Over the last decade or so several Latin American countries have
bucked this trend – Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. Others in the
Caribbean and Central America have experienced growing inequality even
with a level of economic growth. Some trace Latin America‟s performance to
the shrinking earnings gap between high and low-skilled workers and to the
increase in targeted social transfer payments.

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Research carried out by UN and other international agencies indicate
no definitive causal effect between the 2008 financial crisis and the growing
inequality. A lot depends on the policy responses to a recession.
6. The case of small developing countries: Belize, the Caribbean
and Central America
Most of the countries in this region with the exception of Haiti, are
considered Medium Human Development nations. Several – Barbados,
Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Cuba, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago are classified as
High Human Development (UNDP Human Development Report 2011). Yet,
in most if not all these developing countries there is persistent poverty,
deep-seated pockets of extreme poverty and gross income inequality.
Belize is a young nation. Political independence from Britain was
achieved only 30 years ago on 21st September 1981. Belize began life as an
independent country ranked 22nd in terms of GDP per head among the
countries of the Caribbean indicating the long distance Belize needed to
travel. Independence did entitle Belize to certain preferential Trade
Agreements namely the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) in 1984 that gave
us duty-free entry to the US on certain exports such as citrus. This
preferential treatment virtually disappeared with the coming of NAFTA
between the US, Mexico and Canada. The Lomé Convention defined the

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terms which exports from the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries
could enter the European Community.
The Lomé Convention has since gone through several changes – the
Cotinou Agreement and now the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
These trading arrangements are important to small developing countries
who all need to become competitive in the products they export and
diversify into others. The fact remains that trade policies in the rich
industrialized countries remain highly discriminatory against the products of
the poor, especially the agriculture based, small developing countries.
Protection in most rich countries remains extremely high through a variety of
instruments.
Most rich countries apply higher tariffs to agricultural goods and simple
manufactures – the very goods that small developing countries produce and
can export. Import quotas are a more extreme version of the same policy.
Another way rich countries tilt the playing field for trade is by paying large
subsidies to their domestic food producers. Belize‟s and the Caribbean‟s
agricultural exports of sugar, citrus, bananas, rice, sea-food (fish, lobster,
shrimp) are directly affected by such unequal terms and arrangements in
global trade regime.

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Again in the field of technology, there have been dramatic advances in
medicine, agriculture, energy, information and communications technology
offering huge opportunities to put the power of technology to work for
development by raising productivity. Many rich countries however, despite
their commitment in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS), have taken no real steps to share their technology.
In its entire post-independence period, the Belizean economy
measured by GDP at constant prices grew at nearly five percent per year.
Most of this growth, however, is explained by the increase in population, so
that the growth of GDP per head has been a more modest 2.2 percent still a
respectable performance and one that compares favourably over the same
period (1980-2010) both with Central America (0.8 percent) and the
Caribbean as a whole (1.7 percent).
A recent study done by Victor Bulmer Thomas and Barbara Bulmer
Thomas: “The Economic History of Belize” (from the 17th Century to Post
Independence) shows that the fluctuations in the growth of the Belizean
economy since independence have several causes, the most volatile has
been investment both private and public.

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In Belize, the government has been responsible on average for a high
share of this investment since independence (around 40%). Since high
public investment in boom years is normally financed by borrowing from
abroad it has led to a problem of external indebtedness with the central
government struggling to service the debt in slump years.
Historically the main driver of the Belizean economy has been forestry
(logwood and mahogany exports), then agricultural exports and since the
80‟s, tourism and services. In 2006 oil was discovered (in modest quantities
5,000 barrels a day). Recently however the private investment climate has
been jolted by the government‟s takeover of the main telecommunications
provider (BTL) and the national electricity company (BEL). Taking over these
private companies in the name of nationalizing Belizean public utilities
offered the government both immediate financial and political benefits:
Financial, because the profits accrue to the revenue base of public finances,
while the compensation due to the original foreign investors remains unpaid,
tied up in litigation; Political benefits because of its nationalistic stirrings in
the hearts and minds of the populace.
The long term costs to the country may however be harder to
calculate. For there is no doubt that the “nationalization” has put a very
serious damper on the already dismal level of foreign investment in Belize.

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The millions of dollars that will have to be paid as compensation is putting a
severe strain on this government‟s ability to service its debt obligations. The
social sector (health services, education) is facing further cuts. Public
officers, teachers, nurses and police have had their wages frozen.
7. The Gap between the have and the have not
At the time of independence, the people of Belize were all relatively
poor; there was a lack of extremes between the rich and the poor.
Ostentatious wealth was not flaunted even by the few well-to-do merchants,
landlords and business people. Conspicuous consumption was virtually
absent.
Twenty years later, according to the 2002 Poverty Assessment Report,
one-third of all Belizeans were defined as poor despite the fact that the
economy had been growing in the previous years. The Poverty Assessment
Report in 2009 was even more shocking. The level of indigence (extreme
poverty where the individual‟s income is insufficient even to buy the
minimum food requirements) had increased to 16 percent and poverty as a
whole had increased to 41.3 percent. The level of income inequality (the gini
coefficient) had also increased. In the Caribbean only Haiti and the
Dominican Republic had higher levels of poverty.

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The Report identified a lack of education and skills level as a major
factor contributing to growing poverty and inequality. Nearly 90 percent of
heads of indigent households particularly in rural communities left school
with only a primary school education. Secondary school attendance rates in
Belize are dismally low by international standards less than half of our
children complete a high school education. And for those who make it to
Sixth Form or to the fledgling National University, jobs are hard to come by.
The job market is very depressed. The unemployment rate is over 23% and
closer to 40% for young people between the ages of 15 to 30.
The depressed state of the economy and the dramatic fall in private
sector investment (local and foreign) with the resulting high unemployment
rate are no doubt significant factors leading to growing poverty and
inequality.
During the period 1998 to 2007 the country of Belize sustained
extensive damage and destruction to crops, infrastructure and housing stock
from a series of hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding. These natural
disasters and the costs of reconstruction put a severe strain on the financial
resources of Belize resulting in a major fiscal deficit and a significant
increase in the foreign debt. Our government through a home-grown
adjustment programme of increased taxes and cuts in capital expenditure

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was able to reduce the fiscal deficit from about 8% of GDP in 2004 to less
than 1% of GDP in 2008. The Government also successfully carried out a
debt restructuring of virtually 100% of its commercial foreign debt which
provides significant cash flow savings from reduction in interest rates and an
extended moratorium on the payment of the principal debt.
This tough austerity programme which the government carried out to
reduce the deficit to less than 1 percent, though fiscally successful, took its
toll politically when our government was trounced and voted out in the
elections of 2008. Deficit reduction was the right thing to do in order to
ensure that Belize can maintain economic sustainability but the pace of
implementation may have been too rapid resulting in much hardship
especially on the working poor and the middle-class.
A recent study on the debt-burdened Jamaica‟s economy by the Center
for Economic and Policy Research a Washington based think-tank describes
this Caribbean country as having the highest percentage of debt-servicing
interest payment to gross domestic product anywhere in the world. For
years roughly half of the Jamaican government‟s budget has been dedicated
to paying the debt which has forced the country to scrimp on schools, health
services and infrastructure. Despite several programmes with the

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International Monetary Fund (IMF) and debt restructuring, Jamaica‟s debt is
still about 130% of the GDP.
There is no doubt that one of the debilitating structural problems of
most of the Caribbean economies is a high external public debt and the high
interest charged to service the debt. The high lending rates by Banks
undermine investment and make the return on capital needed by new firms
particularly the small and medium sized enterprises extremely challenging.
The argument then that development will be propelled by a focus on the
SMEs rings a little hollow without access to relatively inexpensive capital and
appropriate technology for such small and medium-sized firms to invest
grow and develop.
The unsung hero in Belize as well as many other developing countries
is the Credit Union Movement. Credit Unions promote savings “for a rainy
day” and provide loans to members for basic human needs as well as start-
up capital for your entrepreneurs. Profits are shared with members through
the payment of annual dividends. The Credit Union in Belize is called the
poor man‟s bank.

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But a most debilitating phenomenon is the rise in crime and violence. I
am ashamed to say that the once tranquil and quaint Belize City is today
considered one of the most violent cities of the world (in per capita terms)
with 400 murders committed in the last four years. Drug trafficking, gangs
and the proliferation of firearms provide a lethal cocktail of violence.
Marijuana is the home-grown herbal drug of choice in the Caribbean and
Central America. But the region is also the transshipment area for the lethal
and lucrative cocaine trade which moves by air, land and sea from South
America to the demand market of North America and Europe. The problem
is compounded by the easy supply of guns from the United States whose
constitution affords its citizens the right to freely purchase and bear arms.
Today our neighbour to our immediate north – Mexico is terrorized by drug-
gangs like the Zetas whose penchant for mass killings and horrific massacres
of civilians has been described as the 21 century latest terrorism. There is a
growing awareness among regional leaders that the war on drugs is
unwinnable and the call for decriminalization at least for marijuana has
become more pronounced.
If human development is about expanding choice and advancing rights
then violent conflict is the most brutal suppression of human development.
The right to life and to security are among the most basic human rights.
Insecurity is both a cause and a consequence of mass poverty.

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The cost of crime and violence falls disproportionately on poor and
marginalized people. Fears of violent conflict and random shootings disrupt
everyday life and livelihoods. In addition to the direct loss of incomes and
investments there are costs with a bearing on human development.
Increased spending by the government on the security apparatus results in
less spending on social investment in education and health, thus
perpetuating growing poverty and income inequality. Women and children
are especially vulnerable and are the main victims who bear the brunt of the
human cost. Poor mothers ability to cover health costs, to keep their
children in school and maintain nutrition is diminished often times with fatal
consequences. Loss of opportunities for education is transmitted across
generations in the form of illiteracy and reduced prospects for escaping the
poverty trap. To assist and prevent this inexorable descent into violence,
deepening poverty and chaos, civil society and the population at large must
be challenged to cooperate with law enforcement agencies to root out
organized crime. Such an initiative must be based on a new approach that
promotes trust and confidence between the citizen and the police.

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8. The Role of Civil Society
NGOs are no panacea to income inequality. But neither are
governments, nor markets. We need them all to become more focused,
more integrated, more ethically committed to a common purpose to create a
better world, of greater opportunities and less divisiveness; a world of equal
justice for all, where cultural differences based on ethnicity, gender or
religion are celebrated in freedom where the economic and social walls of
exclusion and marginalization will be torn down like the Berlin Wall.
The Berlin Wall came down not because Mr. Reagan willed it so. But
because people – a freedom loving people hammered it down, brick by brick,
rock by rock, stone by stone. We have a saying in our part of the world,
“Solo el pueblo salva el pueblo!” Only the people can save the people. And
then there is this other profound notion: “No army can withstand the force of
an idea whose time has come”.
It is an undoubted fact that no agency has played as constructive a
role in the challenges of poverty, disease and the environment as the NGO
sector. The sector includes a wide array of institutions; philanthropic
foundations and individuals, activist groups, professional associations,
scientific organizations, religious groups, academia and many other grass-
roots organizations.

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The successes of NGOs have been well documented and include
several Nobel Prize winners such as Muhammad Yunus whose institution –
Grameen Bank transformed the development of micro-financing in the
developing world; or Doctors Without Borders who pioneered the delivery of
life-saving health care to some of the most impoverished regions of the
World.
Then there are the large Foundations now highlighted like the Bill and
Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett foundations. These foundations are
backed by billions of dollars contributed by such wealthy people and
corporations who have rightly focused their work on the elimination of
extreme poverty and disease. Others like the Google team, Larry Page and
Sergey Brin focus on the transformative power of information technology.
Local NGOs in our region who are dependent on grants from the
international NGO community tend to concentrate on environmental
concerns like pollution conservation of our forest, wild life and marine
resources and the dangers of off-shore oil exploration. There are also NGOs
involved with the important work of blindness prevention and treatment for
the visually impaired, other disabilities, HIV/AIDS awareness, cancer
treatment, family planning, and domestic violence. Faith-based groups are

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also involved in “charity” work with the homeless, soup-kitchens and the
like.
In the eyes of the international NGO community, the Caribbean and
Central America, with the possible exception of poverty-stricken Haiti, we
are not on the radar screen except perhaps when we suffer a terrible
disaster like hurricane Mitch which wrecked havoc on Honduras in 1998
resulting in the deaths of thousands with thousands left homeless and
destitute. Most of our countries are simply not considered poor enough.
There is however hope in the growing awareness of the power of the
people mobilized in grass-roots organizations to bring about change through
collective action; expanding awareness for citizens to participate in decision-
making through democratic structures. Communications technology makes
possible linkages that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Social
networking tools such as the internet, Google and Facebook are becoming
crucial tools for cross-cultural contacts and group mobilization.
The information revolution has empowered civil society to serve as a
pressure on both governments and corporations to be more accountable and
transparent and to function with new forms of governance and less
corruption. Political reform and good governance matched with improved

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delivery of basic services not only ensure that development projects are
more sustainable but also improve the chances of the poor and the
vulnerable to escape from the poverty trap.
SUMMING UP
To sum up, I leave you with the following thoughts.
i) Economic growth and wealth creation in the nation are important
and necessary means to fight poverty and to provide a better
quality of life for all the people. We in the underdeveloped
countries need to get away from the old discourse of being ‟for‟
or „against‟ growth. What is crucial is the expansion of people‟s
real freedoms; rising income is important in facilitating the
expansion of freedoms and choices.
ii) There is no one model of development for all countries.
Pathways to advancing human development are varied and
specific to a country‟s historical, political and institutional
conditions.

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iii) Private sector investment, local and foreign, is crucial. I believe
strongly in promoting self-sufficiency in food production for the
domestic market. Export led production in the agro-industry
sector – sugar, citrus, bananas, rice, beans, papayas, lobster,
conch and livestock in which our small countries can compete
regionally if not globally, not only generate employment and
foreign exchange but also sustain livelihoods and economic
growth. Aquaculture – shrimp farms and tilapia fish farms,
successfully managed is also a major foreign exchange earner.
In the services sector, the Tourist industry is a natural for our
Caribbean countries, well endowed with nature‟s beauty, pristine
forest, wild life, marine resources, cave systems, coral reefs,
archaeological sites and artifacts. As a job-creator and income
generator, tourism offers tremendous opportunities for broad
based development in both stay-over arrivals and cruise-ship
tourism.
Income-generating assets must be sustainably managed and
marketed such as forest products for the furniture and wood-
carving industries. Also to be pursued are: financial services,
call-centres, sports, cultural and entertainment industries as well

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as knowledge-based industries such as off-shore medical
schools, and language Training Centres. Our geographic location
must be utilized for its strategic trade value with exports
processing zones and free zones for the entre-pot trade between
North and South America.
Where there is an abundance of water, rivers must be harnessed
to produce hydro-electric power as we have successfully done in
Belize. Pursuing alternative sources of energy in an
environmentally sound way including solar energy, can be very
cost effective for long-term economic growth and sustainability.
Today although domestic oil production is still relatively small, it
is the single largest export earner and government revenue
generator for Belize. This unexpected bonanza should be
targeted to uplift the standard of living especially for the
marginalized.
A meaningful social partnership between the state, the private
sector, labour and civil society is imperative. Foreign direct
investment (F.D.I.) that attracts fresh capital, the transfer of

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technology and greater market access is critical to a successful
growth strategy.
iv) This economic growth may not however translate into equitable
growth unless there is democratic governance that practices
transparency and accountability by public officials and
institutions. The rule of law, open government, an independent
Judiciary, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
enshrined in the Supreme Law of the land – the Constitution,
must be upheld.
Most people in our region live in democratic societies. They have
the chance to vote in periodic elections to choose their leaders.
The formal processes of democracy have proliferated at national
levels. But democracy does not guarantee freedom and justice
to all citizens.
For example, freedom of the press and freedom of information
may be proclaimed in the Constitution and in a Freedom of
Information Act. But the government has been better at rhetoric
than reality. “Sun/light” wrote Louis Brandeis, a US Supreme

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Court Justice nearly a century ago, “is said to be the best
disinfectant.”
Again in the absence of effective campaign finance regulations,
free and fair elections can be subverted by massive vote-buying.
The Integrity in Public Life Legislation requiring all elected
officials to file an annual declaration of income, assets and
liabilities, must be strictly enforced. The posts of the Auditor
General and the Director of Public Prosecutions must be filled
like the Judiciary by persons of the highest integrity, free from
political interference.
The public service in many of our countries work in difficult,
uncertain and under-resourced circumstances. Ministers and
other high officials are too often vested with excessive
discretionary power, a situation which provides a breeding
ground for corruption, abuse, patronage, nepotism and political
victimization. The poor, the weak and suspected supporters of
the opposition are the main victims in such a political culture of
not so much “what you know” but “who you know”.

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v) The most powerful weapon to breaking down this wall of
political, social and economic injustice and discrimination is
education. Investment in education that provides universal
access to quality and relevant education is the key to poverty
elimination. An education that awakens the curiosity, the
creativity of young inquiring minds, that equips them with a
positive attitude and with skill and ability to function and
contribute to the development of their community, is the most
effective strategy for growth with equity.
We must take full advantage of the I.C.T. revolution in our
classrooms. Implementing the “one lap-top per student” at the
primary and secondary level is an investment we cannot afford
not to make even if we have to do it in phases.
I find it very troubling that in my country Belize which in the
past was considered comparatively high on the Human
Development Index, by 2010 Belize was down to 78 out of 194
countries (still a medium development country). One year later
according to the UNDP Index we had fallen to 93.

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It is no coincidence in my view that less than half our children do
not even complete a secondary school education; and that the
programme for universal primary health care initiated by the
previous government has been severely cut back. It is absolutely
imperative for Belize to get back on track – on the pathway that
will secure to our children, young women and men the fulfillment
of their God-given talents and the means to participate
productively in society.
vi) An education that inspires young people to participate
productively in society must confront head-on the reality of the
present generation that seems totally obsessed with the culture
of materialism and instant gratification. It is a culture that
negates the value of hard work and sacrifice today for a better
tomorrow.
It sees nothing wrong “in getting and having” no shame in
begging or stealing. Accepting responsibility for one‟s actions
and the choices we make in life is no longer considered
important to character formation.

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It is this growing culture of cynicism, dependence and lack of
responsibility that must change lest this quest for easy
contentment becomes the ultimate adversary of human freedom.
vii) The mind is a terrible thing to waste. So too is the body and the
spirit of a whole generation. A healthy population is essential for
people to live long productive lives.
The growing gap between the rich and the poor is dangerous in
countless ways. It is dangerous for the poor first whose lives are
cut short from undernourishment, diseases, lack of safe drinking
water, violence in their depressed, overcrowded homes and
neighbourhoods. Without reliable and affordable access to basic
health services, the poor who also happen to have the highest
fertility rates and the most rapid population growth rates is a
time-bomb ticking to explode. And even if my language here is
somewhat of a hyperbole, the fact remains that a country, a
world, where some live in comfort and plenty, while close to half
the population lives in poverty and misery is neither just nor
stable.

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A major factor in addressing persistent poverty is the provision
of universal primary health care services through a National
Health Insurance (NHI) programme subsidized through the
Social Security system to which all employers and employees
contribute. The emphasis is on primary and preventive care and
an aggressive public education campaign; early childhood
vaccinations, preventative measures against life-style diseases
such as diabetes, hypertension and HIV/AIDS. As a Director of
the Pan-American Health Organization once said: “the health of
the nation is the wealth of the nation”.
viii) Some problems are beyond the capacity of individual states,
particularly small states, to deal with effectively. We need
significant external resources to achieve critical levels of human
development. To increase the productivity of small farmers, to
improve basic infrastructure – ports, farm roads, power and
communication, broadband internet, to develop an industrial
development policy that nurtures entrepreneurial activity and
helps to diversify the economy away from dependence on
primary commodity exports – all such policy responses to
structural constraints require a major overhaul of government‟s
service delivery capacity and the nation‟s development project

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implementation capability. In this regard, bilateral and
international cooperation programmes are crucial.
ix) In addition there are certain global issues such as migration,
climate change and natural disaster relief which absolutely
require the attention and financial support of the international
community. In the case of Belize, the issue of migration is
further compounded by the degradation of our forest and nature
reserves carried out by daily illegal encroachments into our
territory by poor Guatemalan peasants and those who hire them
to cut down our timber resources and Xate plants–an ornamental
plant, which grows in the jungle of Belize and which has high
value in the European market. These illegal settlements and
encroachments pose not only an environmental hazard but also
a security threat because of the century-old Guatemalan claim to
Belizean territory.
x) The evidence of the devastating impacts on environmental
sustainability is compounded by global climate change. And in
the face of outrageous disparities in income and wealth our
generation is called upon to meet this new challenge to human
freedom and well being.

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In the final analysis I believe that it is not only in our enlightened self-
interest but as citizens living in a community to find the maximum outlet for
our creative energies and human potential, to understand the plight of the
poor, the dispossessed, the young people without hope and to share in the
responsibility of reshaping our world by doing all that we can to end the
exploitation of one human being by another. Our common humanity
demands this of us. The urgent demand of our generation is to reduce the
widening gap in income inequality and to break down the barriers to growth
with equity in our economic, social and political life.
For us in the small developing countries, whose forebears endured the
brutality and oppression of slavery and colonialism, who were inspired by
the Gandhian struggle of non-violence to defeat imperialism, its policies of
divide and rule and to confront the legacy of racism in our march to freedom
and independence, it is now incumbent on our generation to strive and to
overcome the challenge of poverty in the midst of plenty.
Ending extreme poverty and inequality is the moral imperative and the
great opportunity of our time. It is an undertaking that will relieve great
suffering and spread economic well-being, thus expanding the reach of
human freedom. It will be a fulfillment of the sacred promise in our nation‟s

37. 37
Constitution wherein we the people affirmed that the nation of Belize shall
be founded upon principles which acknowledge…“the dignity of the human
person and the equal and inalienable rights with which all members of the
human family are endowed by their creator.”