Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development, Senator Lynette Eastmond (at right), presenting Donna Bovell- Lewis with the Director’s Award For Excellence 2006.
“It seems that among many Barbadians in business, the approach is still to keep a low profile and pretend that you are not doing as well as you might be”.
This observation was made over the past weekend by the Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development, Senator Lynette Eastmond, while addressing the 40th Anniversary awards and dinner of Trowel Plastics Limited at the Hilton Barbados.
Senator Eastmond said from what she had recognised within our business culture, it was still not the norm to compete primarily through increasing our efforts, but rather by seeking to criticise or ridicule the achievements of others. She said some entrepreneurs feared that their businesses could be targeted if they held up their heads and boasted of successes.
“This approach is necessarily counterproductive as it not only undermines the competing businesses but also distracts those who seek to criticise from focusing their efforts on their own businesses. The
Senator Eastmond made it clear that after 40 years of independence it was important for us to begin to “confront very seriously those spin-offs from our culture that continue to stunt our growth in business”.
The Commerce Minister congratulated Trowel Plastics Limited on its latest milestone and for its survival over several decades of change.
“As a company involved in manufacturing, Trowel Plastics Limited is no doubt in a position to have witnessed the several changes that Barbados has experienced in its economic development, from king sugar to light manufacturing to tourism and now to services, including the cultural, entertainment and professional services,” she said.