Business View Caribbean - May 2015 19
is facilitated through BMEX and our Buy Bajan cam-
paign, which showcases the best of what we have to
offer, bringing national, regional and international at-
tention to manufacturing in Barbados, and the latter
raises awareness of locally manufactured products in
Barbados.
“The average view of manufacturing tends to be very
limited and at time erroneous. When some think of
manufacturing they still think of dim and dusty opera-
tions. Some of our manufacturers run fully automated
state-of-the-art facilities. We are constantly increasing
our standards and moving toward manufacturing ex-
cellence. We are now 50 years strong and are getting
stronger ever year. Manufacturing is here to stay.
“Undoubtedly, there are a number of challenges which
the sector faces. The largest to our mind is competi-
tiveness. While the quality and craftsmanship of local
manufacturing is undeniably first class, we are forced
to compete against foreign goods, be it right here at
home or abroad where the playing field is not level.
We must compete with markets whose labor costs are
much lower, who have cheaper access to energy and
who benefit from greater economies of scale than we
do.”
One of the BMA’s primary objectives and mandates
continues to be the development of its members and
the provision of maximum exposure for their products,
both locally and internationally. Also key for us is train-
ing. We want to make sure manufacturers have the
right tools and access to the necessary resources. That
is the drive behind our collaboration with the Cave Hill
School of Business and other partners on various ini-
tiatives such as the Entrepreneurial Survival Series.
“Our manufacturers are also recognizing the need to
be more creative, to innovate and adopt performance
standards,” Nicholls said. “There are several manufac-
turers in this country who are ISO certified, who have
outstanding brands competing on the regional and in-
ternational stage. But unfortunately so many people
are still not aware of the wide variety and quality we
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