President of the Barbados Manufacturers' Association (BMA), James Husbands, gave this assessment of the industry yesterday, on the eve of the opening of the big annual showcase BMEX at Sherbourne Conference Centre.
He contended that a 1.5 per cent increase in overall manufacturing output recorded in the first three months of 2008, reversing the 1.5 per cent decrease in January-March , could have been improved if the sector was treated better.
He said manufacturing was at a disadvantage against distribution and other sectors when it came to accessing loans from commercial banks, even though it had the capacity to save and generate foreign exchange and create jobs.
Intervention
"It may be left to Government to intervene in the marketplace and say we are going to make money available to the manufacturing sector through a special window," he told the WEEKEND NATION.
"There is another potential solution. Given the fact that the Central Bank has jurisdiction over the commercial banks, it is quite possible that the Central Bank (can) require the commercial banks to have a percentage of their portfolio in the manufacturing sector."
Such assistance would put the furniture industry, which has been "decimated over the last several years", in a position to close "a $25 million gap" between what it is earning now and peak revenue of years ago, Husbands said.
He also called for the Government's help in advertising, "in the same way that a Government would intervene in the hotel sector every year and put X million dollars in advertising to create the movement of people to come to Barbados."
"The hotels should be buying more (locally) and the schemes under which they get concessions should be used to make sure that that happens," he suggested.
And he called for support of the industry with technical assistance and training, help with the acquisition of machinery and loans at "reasonable rates of interest".
BMEX 2008 opens today, with school children permitted to visit from 9 a.m. and buyers and trade representatives from 11 a.m. The formal opening ceremony starts at 7 p.m. The event runs daily until Monday night.