Tag: Sales

Advocates push for junk-food tax

Posted on April 22, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Government

Go Lean Commentary

Junk FoodThe forgoing article focuses on an important issue for the Caribbean. Diabetes is a scourge to the region; it is among the leading causes of death. Though death is the final destination of all humans, quality of life is a fitting goal for optimization. Diabetes is a degenerative disease; it grievously affects the quality of life; over time, its sufferers are afflicted with ailments like kidney failures, amputations and blindness. In addition to the personal discomforts, these treatments exact a huge toll on a community’s economics. For this matter, this subject is in scope for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

The book, Go Lean … Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. This technocratic agency will assume oversight to optimize the region’s:

(1) economy,

(2) security apparatus, and

(3) governing engines.

The subject of diabetes disease management is in scope for all 3 of these prime directives. The importance and linkage of the topics for diabetes, healthcare and economics are undeniable. But there are security threats as well, as advanced diabetes dispositions increase the need for organ transplantations, inducing many to venture into the illegal organ trade markets. Finally, the strain on governments to service this population and develop mitigation plans is a constant priority – or should be.

By: FELICIA FONSECA

Flagstaff, Arizona — Facing a high prevalence of diabetes, many American Indian tribes are returning to their roots with community and home gardens, cooking classes that incorporate traditional foods, and running programs to encourage healthy lifestyles.

The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation, is to use the tax system to push people to ditch junk food.

Navajo President Ben Shelly earlier this year vetoed measures to enact a 2 percent sales tax on tax on chips, cookies and sodas, and to eliminate the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. This week, tribal lawmakers have a chance to resurrect the proposals, and supporters are optimistic they’ll be among the first in the country to succeed.

Elected officials across the U.S. have taken aim at sugary drinks with proposed bans, size limits, tax hikes and warning labels, though their efforts have not gained widespread traction. In Mexico, lawmakers approved a junk food tax and a tax on soft drinks last year as part of that government’s campaign to fight obesity.

Shelly said he supports the intent of the proposals on the Navajo Nation but questioned how the higher tax on snacks high in fat, sugar and salt would be enacted and regulated. Supporters of the tax say it is another tool in their fight for the health of the people.

“If we can encourage our people to make healthier choices and work on the prevention side, we increase the life span of our children, we improve their quality of life,” said professional golfer Notah Begay III, who is among supporters.

American Indians and Alaska Natives as a whole have the highest age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes among U.S. racial and ethnic groups, according to the American Diabetes Association. They are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have the disease that was the fourth leading cause of death in the Navajo area from 2003 to 2005, according to the Indian Health Service.

Native children ages 10 to 19 are nine times as likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the IHS said.

The proposed Navajo Nation tax wouldn’t add significantly to the price of junk food, but buying food on the reservation presents obstacles that don’t exist in most of urban America. The reservation is a vast 27,000 square miles with few grocery stores and a population with an unemployment rate of around 50 percent. Thousands of people live without electricity and have no way of storing perishable food items for too long.

“They have a tendency to purchase what’s available, and it’s not always the best food,” said Leslie Wheelock, director of tribal relations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wheelock said the diabetes issue in tribal communities is one that has been overlooked in the past or not taken as seriously as it could be. It has roots in the federal government taking over American Indian lands and introducing food that tribal members weren’t used to, she said.

To help remedy that, the USDA runs a program that distributes nutritional food to 276 tribes. Grants from the agency have gone toward gardening lessons for children within the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York, culturally relevant exercise programs for the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota and food demonstrations using fresh fruit and vegetables on the Zuni reservations in New Mexico.

The Dine Community Advocacy Alliance, which has been pushing for the Navajo Nation junk food tax, estimates it will result in at least $1 million a year in revenue that could go toward wellness centers, community parks, walking trails and picnic grounds in tribal communities in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. It would expire at the end of 2018.

Tribal lawmakers will vote this week on overturning Shelly’s vetoes. Regardless of whether that legislation passes, “we have to keep stepping up to the plate,” alliance member Gloria Begay said.

No other sales tax on the Navajo Nation specifically targets the spending habits of consumers. Alcohol is sold in a few places on the reservation but isn’t taxed. Retailers and distributors pay a tobacco tax.

Opponents of the junk food tax argue it would burden customers and drive revenue off the reservation. Mike Gardner, executive director of the Arizona Beverage Association, said the lack of specifics in the legislation as to what exactly will be taxed could mean fruit juice and nutritional shakes would be lumped in the same category as sodas.

“I don’t think they mean that, but that’s what will happen,” Gardner said. “It’s a little loose, a little vague. It’s going to create problems for retailers and … it doesn’t solve the problem.”

a. By the numbers:

Total population of Navajo Nation: 250,000

Unemployment rate: 44%

Families living in poverty: 30.5%

People living with diabetes: 55,000

Source: Partners In Health (PIH), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. (http://www.pih.org/country/navajo-nation/about)

Associated Press (AP) News Wire Service (Retrieved 04/22/2014) –
http://news.yahoo.com/advocates-push-junk-food-tax-navajo-nation-155642994.html

The roadmap commences with a Declaration of Interdependence. In Verse IX (Page 11) it pronounces:

Whereas the realities of healthcare and an aging population cannot be ignored and cannot be afforded without some advanced mitigation, the Federation must arrange for health plans to consolidate premiums of both healthy and sickly people across the wider base of the entire Caribbean population. The mitigation should extend further to disease management, wellness, obesity and smoking cessation programs. The Federation must proactively anticipate the demand and supply of organ transplantation as developing countries are often exploited by richer neighbors for illicit organ trade.

The foregoing article highlights diabetes disease management in the controlled population of the Native American Reservation for the Navajo Nation in Arizona [a]. In fact, Go Lean posits that the Caribbean can benefit greatly from a consideration of the examples, samples and lessons from Native American tribes and their experiences. This is included in the book as “10 Lessons from Indian Reservations” (Page 141). As for this issue, Go Lean also recognizes that food choices and the preponderance of junk food could imperil community wellness; (Page 162). We must therefore take heed to these lessons.

The CU mission is to implement the complete eco-system to re-boot health delivery in the region. Applying strategies to win the battles of globalization, the Go Lean roadmap urges the Caribbean region to not only consume; we must create and contribute as well. In that vein, there are many tactics, implementations and advocacies to facilitate the vision for R&D, incubation, entrepreneurship and many other areas related to medical tourism. These are detailed here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – “Bad Things” Happen Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments Page 24
Community Ethos – Non-Government Org’s. Page 25
Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Impact Research and Development Page 30
Promote Happiness Page 36
Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Separation of Powers – Health Department Page 86
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities Page 105
Ways to Benefit from Globalization Page 119
Improve Healthcare Page 155
Impact Entitlements Page 158
Better Manage Food Consumption Page 162
Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Ways to Improve Organ Transplantations Page 214
Impact Foundations Page 219
Improve Elder-Care Page 225
Impact Persons with Disabilities Page 228

The roadmap addresses the obstacles for full implementation of the CU objectives. Like most communities, there are cost constraints, as the foregoing article reports on a special tax to fund junk food mitigations. How will the CU pay for its strategic and tactical initiatives?

The book addresses this issue in full detail in these advocacies:

Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
10 Revenue Sources for Administration Page 172

Change has come to the Caribbean. Both the people and institutions of the region are urged to “lean-in” for this change. As described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean, the benefits of this roadmap are too important; improving health deliveries is not just economic, more important, it’s about saving lives.

Download the Book- Go Lean…Caribbean Now!!!

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The Pope as a ‘Turnaround CEO’ – The Francis effect

Posted on April 21, 2014 in Planning, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Every Caribbean country elevates and respects the Christian celebration of Easter. On this occasion, we consider a review of the Roman Catholic leader, Pope Francis, and his management style in relation to a ‘Turnaround CEO’. (Technically, the Pope is a CEO, and a King; see VIDEO in the Appendix).

Pope Francis

The subject of religion is very important to the SFE Foundation, publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. While the foundation is apolitical and religiously neutral, it does draw insight from the underlying guide that Pope Francis embraces, the Holy Bible. In fact, Go Lean features an advocacy applying the insight from the Bible on economic and governing matters:

10 Lessons from the Bible – Page 144.

As for this ‘Turnaround CEO’, Jorge Bergoglio of RC Global (RC = Roman Catholic), assumes this position at a time of crisis (of faith) for his organization, the Church. There are lessons and application here for the object of devotion for the SFE Foundation, turn-around for the Caribbean, since this region is also in crisis! (Also, a crisis of faith, in which people are quick to flee their beloved homelands for distant shores).

***About to take over a crisis-ridden company with a demoralised workforce? Turn to this Roman case study***
Business schools regularly teach their students about great “turnaround CEOs” who breathe new life into dying organisations: figures such as IBM’s Lou Gerstner, Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne and Apple’s Steve Jobs. Now Harvard Business School needs to add another case study: Jorge Bergoglio, the man who has rebranded RC Global in barely a year.

When Pope Francis celebrated his first Easter as CEO, just after being appointed, the world’s oldest multinational was in crisis. Pentecostal competitors were stealing market share in the emerging world, including in Latin America, where Francis ran the Argentine office. In its traditional markets, scandals were scaring off customers and demoralising the salesforce. Recruitment was difficult, despite the offer of lifetime employment in a tough economy. The firm’s finances were also a mess. Leaked documents revealed the Vatican bank as a vortex of corruption and incompetence. The board was divided and weak. Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, was the first Pope to resign for 600 years, amid dark rumours that the founder and chairman, a rarely seen elderly bearded figure whose portrait adorns the Sistine boardroom, had intervened.

Operating Prophet
In just a year, the business has recovered a lot of its self-confidence. The CEO is popular: 85% of American Catholics—a tough audience—approve of him. Footfall in RC Global’s retail outlets is rising again. The salesforce now talks about a “Francis effect”. How has a [70 year old] Argentinian succeeded in galvanising one of the world’s stodgiest outfits? Essentially by grasping three management principles.

The first is a classic lesson in core competences. Francis has refocused his organisation on one mission: helping the poor. One of his first decisions was to forsake the papal apartments in favour of a boarding house which he shares with 50 other priests and sundry visitors. He took the name of a saint who is famous for looking after the poor and animals. He washed and kissed the feet of 12 inmates of a juvenile-detention centre. He got rid of the fur-trimmed velvet capes that Popes have worn since the Renaissance, swapped Benedict’s red shoes for plain black ones and ignored his fully loaded Mercedes in favour of a battered Ford.

This new focus has allowed the company to spend fewer resources on ancillary businesses, such as engaging in doctrinal disputes or staging elaborate ceremonies. The “poor-first strategy” is also aimed squarely at emerging markets, where the potential for growth is greatest but competition fiercest.

Along with the new strategic focus, the Pope is employing two management tools to good effect. One is a brand repositioning. He clearly continues to support traditional teaching on abortion and gay marriage, but in a less censorious way than his predecessors (“Who am I to judge?” he asked of homosexuals). The other is a restructuring. He has appointed a group of eight cardinals (“the C8”) to review the church’s organisation and brought in McKinsey and KPMG (“God’s consultants”) to look at the church’s administrative machinery and overhaul the Vatican bank.

Will it work? Established critics, notably the corporate raider Lou Siffer, maintain it is all incense-smoke and mirrors. Others insist that more sweeping change, including a bigger role for women, is needed. The chairman’s attitude is unknown. Some analysts interpret the absence of plagues of boils and frogs as approbation; others point out that He moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.

The Economist Magazine – Retrieved Apr 19th 2014 from: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21600980-about-take-over-crisis-ridden-company-demoralised-workforce-turn-roman-case

The foregoing article identified the Pope’s 3 management principles:

  1. Re-focusing on Core Competence
  2. Brand Re-positioning
  3. Restructuring

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap for change in the Caribbean, with the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). It identifies the same 3 management principles (and then more), for contending with the crises that befalls the Caribbean member-states. Specifically the above 3 principles are identified, qualified and proposed with these detailed pages from the book:

  1. Strategy – What are we best at doing? (Page 58)
  2. Ways to Better Manage Image (Page 133)
  3. Ways to Impact Turn-arounds (Page 33); Re-boot Freeport (Page 112); Re-boot Cuba (Page 236); Re-boot Haiti (Page 238); Re-boot Jamaica (Page 239)

What are the management training and influences of Pope Francis? Is he influenced by his successful accomplishment of other crisis?

In an earlier article on the accomplishments of Pope Francis, the same Economist magazine (March 8, 2014 edition) associated Pope Francis management style with Peronist philosophies:

The political landscape of Francis’s homeland, however, offers a more accurate, and nuanced, understanding of his views. For most of his life Argentina has plotted a kind of third way between Marxism and liberalism—albeit one with disastrous political and economic results. “[Francis] only knows one style of politics,” says a diplomat accredited to the Holy See. “And that is Peronism.”

The creed bequeathed by Argentina’s former dictator, General Juan Perón, with its “three flags” of social justice, economic independence and political sovereignty, has been endlessly reinterpreted since. Conservatives and revolutionaries alike have been proud to call themselves Peronist. But at its heart it is corporatist, assigning to the state the job of resolving conflicts between interest groups, including workers and employers. In that respect it resembles fascism and Nazism—and also Catholic social doctrine.

The Pope’s Peronist side shows in his use of a classic populist technique: going over the heads of the elite to the people with headline-grabbing gestures and comments. And it is visible in his view of political economy, which also has much in common with post-Marxist protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Spanish indignados and Italy’s Five Star Movement.

“While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by the happy few,” he has written. “This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control.”

(http://www.economist.com/news/international/21598677-how-modest-canny-man-approaching-complex-task-leading-roman-catholic)

Conversely, consider the management influences of the architects of the Go Lean roadmap. Are they influenced by successful management of other crises?

The answer is a resounding Yes! At the outset of the book (Page 8), the publishers are identified and qualified with these statements:

The peak day of the recent global financial crisis was September 15, 2008. On this day, Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, and eventual dissolution, after succumbing to the weight of over-leverage in mortgage-backed securities. There is an old observation/expression that states that “there are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder ‘what happened?’“ Principals of SFE Foundation were there in 2008 … engaged with Lehman Brothers (and subsequently BearStearns and JPMorganChase); on the inside looking out, not the outside looking in. Understanding the anatomy of the modern macro economy, allows the dissection of the processes and the creation of viable solutions.

The Pope wants errant members of his flock, the Catholic Church, to return to worship in the pews and at the altars of local parishes. The same as he assumes an oversight position to turn-around “the fortunes” of RC Global – the Catholic Church, so too the CU, following the Go Lean roadmap, has to assume oversight of much of the Caribbean economic, security and governing functionality.

In summary, this plan’s execution will make the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play.

Change has come to the Caribbean. There is a new vehicle for turning-around the region’s economic, security and governmental drivers. The people and institutions are urged to “lean-in” for this change. The benefits: emergence of an $800 Billion regional economy, 2.2 million new jobs and the lure for millions of Diaspora members to set their sights on a return to their homelands. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———

Appendix – VIDEO: Vatican City Explained – https://youtu.be/OPHRIjI3hXs

 

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Florida’s Snowbirds Chilly Welcome

Posted on April 11, 2014 in Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Florida's Snowbird Chilly Welcome - PhotoTo the Canadian Snowbirds, looking for warm climates and a warm welcome, we say:

“Be our guest”.

To the Caribbean Diaspora, living in Canada and other northern countries, we say:

“Come in from the cold”.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean aligns with the news story in the below article. While the US may be retracting the Welcome Mats from Canadian snowbirds, after 180 days, the islands of the Caribbean extend the invitation for them to pass the wintry months here. They are invited to bring their time, talent and treasuries; (according to the article: billions of dollars).

  • Need an extra month? No problem.
  • Need access to cutting-edge medical treatment? Got it.
  • Need protection from crime and harassment? Got you covered.
  • Need video communications to interact with Embassy and government officials? Sure thing.
  • Need access to your Canadian dollar bank accounts? No problem.

The source news article is embedded here as follows:

Title: “Congress protects America from Canadian pensioners”
Gulfport, Florida – A chore combining carpentry with diplomacy awaits Gordon Bennett, a retired Canadian soldier, after his move to a larger mobile home near Florida’s Gulf coast. As commander of an overseas post of the Royal Canadian Legion, he likes to fly his national flag from a handy palm tree. But as a respectful guest—one of about half a million Canadian “snowbirds” who own winter homes in Florida, using special visas good for a total of 180 days in any 12-month period—he knows to follow strict protocol when mounting his flags, or face complaints from American neighbours. His Canadian flag cannot be flown on its own but must be paired with the Stars and Stripes (though never on the same pole). The American flag may not be smaller or fly lower, and must be flown in the position of honour (the right, as you emerge from a doorway).

Mr. Bennett, a genial octogenarian, does not resent the fussing. In his winter home of Pinellas County—an unflashy region of mobile home parks, “senior living” complexes, golf courses and strip malls—the welcome is mostly warm for Canadian snowbirds, who pump billions of dollars into Florida’s economy each year. His post shares premises with the American Legion, and has introduced local veterans to Moose Milk, a lethal Canuck eggnog-variant involving maple syrup. He routinely brings 50 or 60 Canadians to ex-servicemen’s parades, picnics or dinner-dances.

But once issues of sovereignty are raised, America’s welcome can chill. Visa rules force Canadian pensioners to count each day after they cross the border, typically in late October. They are enforced ferociously: overstayers may be barred from re-entry for five years. Some members of Congress have been trying to ease the rules for Canadian pensioners since the late 1990s. A law allowing Canadians over 55 to spend up to eight months in America each year, as long as they can show leases for property down south and do not work, passed the Senate in 2013 as part of a comprehensive immigration bill, but like the bigger bill, it has now stalled. In the House of Representatives an extension for Canadian snowbirds has been tucked into the JOLT Act, a tourism-promotion law introduced by Joe Heck, a Nevada Republican.

Canadian pensioners are not an obviously threatening group—few Americans report being mugged by elderly Ottawans armed with ice-hockey sticks. They pay property and sales taxes in America. They must cover their own health-care costs while down south, through the Canadian public health-care system and private top-up policies. If allowed to stay for eight months, most would stay only seven, predicts Dann Oliver, president of the Canadian Club of the Gulf Coast (staying longer would complicate their health cover and their tax status). They just want a few more weeks in the sun.

Yet even something this easy is proving hard. Mr. Heck is willing to tweak his bill to focus on two reforms: the Canadian extension and visa interviews by video-conference for Chinese, Brazilian and Indian would-be visitors, who currently face long journeys to American consulates. But many members of the House “are reluctant to do anything with the word immigration in it,” says Mr. Heck. Optimists hope the bill might come up for a vote this year. For Mr. Bennett and his wife, Evelyn, Canadians whose “bones ache” in their homeland’s cold, it can’t come too soon.
Source: The Economist (Retrieved 03/08/2014) –http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21598680-congress-protects-america-canadian-pensioners-chilly-welcome

Florida's Snowbird Chilly Welcome - Photo 2The book, Go Lean…Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) over a 5 year period. The book posits that tourism products can be further extended to attract, accommodate and harvest the market of Snowbirds. These ones bring more than they take, and therefore should be viewed as low-hanging fruit for tourism’s economic harvest. While some CU member-states may target a High-Net-Worth clientele, there is room too for the hordes of retirees who may seek more modest accommodations. In the end, billions of dollars of economic output from the Snowbird market are still … billions of dollars.

From the outset, the book defined that the purpose of the CU is to optimize economic, security and governing engines to impact Caribbean society, for residents and visitors. This was pronounced in Verse IV (Page 11) of the opening Declaration of Interdependence:

Whereas the natural formation of the landmass is in a tropical region, the flora and fauna allows for an inherent beauty that is enviable to peoples near and far. The structures must be strenuously guarded to protect and promote sustainable systems of commerce paramount to this reality.

In line with the foregoing article, the Go Lean book details some applicable infrastructure enhancements and advocacies to facilitate more Snowbird traffic:

  • Ferries – Union Atlantic Turnpike (Page 205)
  • Self-Governing Entities/Fairgrounds (Pages 105, 192)
  • Optimized Medical Deliveries (Page 156)
  • Marshalling Economic Crimes (Page 178)
  • Improve Elder-Care (Page 239)

The purpose of this roadmap is to make the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play; for snowbirds too! This way we can benefit from their presence.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Temasek firm backs Southeast Asia cab booking app

Posted on April 9, 2014 in Ethos, Government, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

CU Blog - Temasek firm backs Southeast Asia cab booking app - Photo - CopySingapore has a public-private initiative to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and jobs. They use public monies to invest in private businesses that can generate future returns. This constitutes a progressive stewardship of a country’s economy; and a fine model for Caribbean empowerment objectives.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean makes similar claims as the news article below, that innovation and economic growth can result from a progressive community ethos. The book defines this “community ethos” as the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.

By Andrew Toh

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings is putting its substantial clout behind an app that eases the pain of booking taxis in Singapore and Malaysia, aiming to expand the service in other busy Southeast Asian cities.

Vertex Venture Holdings, a $1.2 billion venture capital firm that focuses on emerging companies and funds in Asia and the United States, said on Tuesday it was leading a group of mostly Malaysian investors putting an unspecified “eight-figure sum” into smartphone app company GrabTaxi.

The app, developed by two Harvard Business School graduates, was launched in Malaysia in 2012 as MyTeksi, and then expanded to Singapore a year later. It also operates in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

“We invest in potential champions which have developed new technology platforms or business models,” Vertex Venture CEO Chua Kee Lock told reporters. “We clearly see GrabTaxi as one such champion in the making.”

Booking a taxi is often an arduous task in Singapore, a city state with a population of around 5.4 million and just 28,000 cabs. Many people rely on taxis and public transport, as Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world to own a private car, but finding a cab during peak hours, and the frequent tropical downpours, is often frustrating.

In other Southeast Asian cities like Manila and Kuala Lumpur, heavy traffic makes finding taxis equally difficult.

GrabTaxi competes in the region with an app from Hong-Kong based company Taxi Hero and Rocket Internet’s Easy Taxi app.

In Singapore, it is up against market leader Comfortdelgro Corp, which has its own booking app. GrabTaxi, however, offers commuters a choice from all the taxis that are closest to their location, regardless of which company operates them.

GrabTaxi founder and Chief Executive Anthony Tan said the app was the second most popular in Singapore after Comfortdelgro, and that it had been downloaded on to more than one million mobile devices in Southeast Asia.

He said the company was keen to expand outside Malaysia, because that is where he believed the biggest growth was happening.

“These markets have much bigger population sizes. They’re chewing up smart phones like no tomorrow,” he said. “I think jumping on this type of wave makes all the difference.”

The Vertex Venture-led investment will go into product innovation and building larger local teams to develop and market the app, Tan said. The app would rely on built-in traffic algorithms and feedback from users, he added.

Reuters News Source (Retrieved 04/08/2014) –http://news.yahoo.com/taxi-temasek-firm-backs-southeast-asia-cab-booking-102723508–sector.html

The foregoing news article, about Temasek & GrabTaxi, provides a number of other “fine models” for the Caribbean ethos:

  • Regional Taxi Administration – The Go Lean roadmap defines that taxis are the frontline of Caribbean hospitality; there is the need to compel the stakeholders to adapt innovative products & services like the mobile apps in this news article (Page 25).
  • Mobile Applications – The Go Lean roadmap defines the mastery of time-&-space as strategic for succeeding in mobile apps development and deployment for the region (Page 35).

CU Blog - Temasek 2nd PicThe book, Go Lean…Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) over a 5 year period. The book stresses that the current community spirit/ethos must change. What can motivate people to change their values and priorities? Compelling external and internal drivers! The roadmap commences with the statement that the Caribbean is in crisis, and that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. The region is devastated from external factors: global economic recession, globalization and rapid technology changes. The book then posits that to adapt, there must be a new internal optimization of the region’s strengths. This is defined in Verse XXVII (Page 14) of the Declaration of Interdependence:

Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

In line with the foregoing article, the Go Lean book details some applicable community ethos, and provides a roadmap to better foster these qualities and their resulting benefits:

• Deferred Gratification (Page 21)

• Governing Principles – Return of Investments (Page 24)

• Help for Entrepreneurship (Page 28)

• Promotion of Intellectual Property (Page 29)

• Impacting Research & Developments (Page 30)

• Bridging the Digital Divide (Page 31)

The roadmap posits that the CU must incubate a Mobile Apps industry, forge entrepreneurial incentives and facilitate the infrastructure upgrades so that innovations can thrive. As related in the foregoing article, these efforts can help a region, in this case the Caribbean, to be a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Maarten Join the ACS

Posted on March 26, 2014 in Implementation, Locations, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

French Caribbean MapThe SFE Foundation, publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean welcomes these French Caribbean states into this brotherhood of Caribbean states. We embrace the idea of regional integration, as described in the below article, and push for an even “deeper dive into waters” of confederation, collaboration and convention.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean serves as a roadmap to navigate the integration and consolidation of all 30 member-states into the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU will equally represent these French-speaking Caribbean member-states along with their Dutch, English and Spanish counterparts. The Go Lean roadmap posits that the region is ill-prepared to compete on the world’s stage without this proposed integration. The book declares interdependence among these member-states to form a single market & economy of 42 million people and the potential for an $800 Billion GDP. The end-result will furnish a Caribbean Union that our young people can saddle their dreams to for a consequential future.

For this movement we welcome Guadeloupe, Martinique & St Maarten, and encourage this embrace by other French territories. See news article here:

By the Caribbean Journal staff:
Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Maarten have all joined the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) as associate members.

The three Caribbean territories acceded to the ACS during the regional group’s Ministerial Council meeting in Trinidad last week.

“It is important that we remain a player in the region and that we strengthen the bonds between us and the Nations of the Caribbean,” St Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Wiliams said following the move. “One of the things I have been stressing is regarding our responsibilities and roles that we have to take on as a country. One of those is participation in regional and international organizations. Now we have the capacity to meet with the ACS which [gives] us a voice in the region.”

Serge Letchimy, President of Martinique’s Regional Council, said regional integration had been a priority of his tenure, with a view toward “anchoring Martinique in its geographical environment.”

The territories’ accession to the ACS was first announced [at the outset of this 19th Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council].

Martinique and Guadeloupe’s relationship with the sovereign territories of the Caribbean, and how it should develop, continues to be a question for the region.

Last year, a report recommended that Martinique and Guadeloupe integrate economically with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States – (www.caribjournal.com/2013/04/08/report-urges-oecs-economic-integration-for-martinique-guadeloupe/).

Source:  Caribbean Journal Online News Source; retrieved 02/21/2014 from: http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/02/21/guadeloupe-martinique-st-maarten-join-association-of-caribbean-states/

The Caribbean needs all hands on deck for the region’s societal elevation goals. Consider these organizational dynamics of the ACS and the OECS:

ACS

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) is a union of nations centered on the Caribbean Basin. It was formed with the aim of promoting consultation, cooperation, and concerted action among all the countries of the Caribbean. The primary purpose of the ACS is to develop greater trade between the nations, enhance transportation, develop sustainable tourism, and facilitate greater and more effective responses to local natural disasters – Wikipedia.com.

It comprises twenty-five member states and four associate members. The convention establishing the ACS was signed on July 24, 1994 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The secretariat of the organization is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Antigua & Barbuda Cuba Guyana Panama Venezuela
Bahamas Dominica Haiti St. Kitts & Nevis Aruba
Barbados Dominican Republic Honduras St. Lucia Curaçao
Belize El Salvador Jamaica St. Vincent & Grenadines France
Colombia Grenada Mexico Suriname Turks & Caicos Islands
Costa Rica Guatemala Nicaragua Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Sea Agenda
One agenda adopted by the ACS has been an attempt to secure the designation of the Caribbean Sea as a special zone in the context of sustainable development; it is pushing for the UN to consider the Caribbean Sea as an invaluable asset that is worth protecting and treasuring. The organization has sought to form a coalition among member states to devise a United Nations General Assembly resolution to ban the transshipment of nuclear materials through the Caribbean Sea and the Panama Canal.

OECS

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), created in 1981, is an inter-governmental organization dedicated to economic harmonization and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance between the countries/dependencies of the Eastern Caribbean states of Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & Grenadines. Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands are associate member states.
Source: Wikipedia.com.

The Go Lean roadmap aligns with the ACS and OECS agenda – all hands on deck – with the implementation plan of an Exclusive Economic Zone for the Caribbean Sea. This plan is therefore conceivable,believable and achievable. 🙂

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Dominica raises EC$20 million on regional securities market

Posted on March 25, 2014 in Economics, Government

Go Lean Commentary

imagesThe forgoing news article synchronizes with the book Go Lean … Caribbean in that it advocates the alternative financing scheme for government debt; that of treasury bonds in the region’s security markets. The news article further describes the success using the existing monetary union for the Eastern Caribbean states. The Go Lean roadmap extrapolates that monetary union for all 30 member-states and the stronger currency of the Caribbean Dollar. This approach exceeds the current regime for many Caribbean states, that of foreign debt, which has to be repaid in foreign currency.

This book therefore promotes independence (Page 120), by being less beholden to foreign powers and foreign banks. Yes, independence by means of interdependence.

Roseau, Dominica – Dominica raised EC$20 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) on the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM) on Monday with with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit saying it represents confidence in the policies of his administration.

The money was raised at a record low 1.999 per cent through the first of a series of three 91-day Treasury Bill offerings.

“Many countries in the developed world especially in Europe have had difficulty in raising monies at concessionary rates. The discount rate achieved in Monday’s Treasury bill offering means that government can now raise the financing it needs at a lower cost to the taxpayers of Dominica,” said Skerrit, who is also finance minister.

He said his administration has had to grapple with Dominica’s own challenges “but we have worked actively to build a strong platform for sustained economic growth.

“Our prudent fiscal and economic policies have insulated the country from the more severe effects of the global recession,” Prime Minister Skerrit added.

A government statement said that the rate of 1.999% is 50 basis points below the previous record of 2.49%.

“Investors view the purchase of the 91 day Treasury bill as a low-risk investment opportunity. The low Treasury bill rate demonstrated the ability of the Government of Dominica to raise money at relatively low cost,” the statement said.

It said that as a result, the government will seek to raise an additional EC$65 million on the RGSM through the remaining two, 91 day Treasury bills and one five year, EC$25 million bond.

“This is to finance part of government’s operating budget and refinance existing government debt, the interest rate on which is much higher than the interest rate government obtains on its Treasury bills. Treasury Bills present an avenue to invest outside of the normal banking system,” the statement added.
Source: Caribbean360.com – Caribbean Online Magazine (Retrieved 03/21/2014)http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/business/1107319.html#ixzz2wcE8gxHl

This book serves as a roadmap for the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to issue the regional Caribbean Dollar currency. This CCB institution is projected as an independent, yet technocratic federal agency to administer the region’s monetary affairs. Thus ushering a change in funding options available to the 30 member-state governments. At the outset, the roadmap identified this urgent need, stating this clause in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14):

xxix. Whereas all Caribbean democracies depend of the free flow of capital for municipal, public and private financing, the institutions of capital markets can be better organized around a regional monetary union. The Federation must institute the controls to insure transparency, accounting integrity and analysis independence of the securities markets, thereby shifting the primary source of capital away from foreign lenders to domestic investors, comprising institutions and individuals.

The foregoing news article depicts how much cheaper this funding approach is compared to alternatives, as Grenada was able to raise so much short term money at a low rate of 1.999%. This is much cheaper than any bank loan option. But with this alternative financing scheme, come new risks and threats. The Go Lean roadmap anticipates the many consequential impacts on Caribbean society, allowing for best-practice mitigations, such as credit ratings and reporting, investigations and prosecutions at the federal level, monitoring for systemic threats and racketeering crimes that can undermine the entire system.

The book details this oversight in these advocacies and anecdotes, embedding lessons from other jurisdictions like Wall Street in the US:

  • 10 Ways to Impact Wall Street (Page 200)
  • 10 Lessons from 2008 (Page 136)
  • 10 Ways to Improve Credit Reporting (Page 155)
  • 10 Ways to Better Manage Debt (Page 114)
  • 10 Revenue Sources for Caribbean Administration (Page 172)
  • Appendix GC – Credit Ratings Agencies Role in 2008 Financial Crisis (Page 276)

The CU/CCB solutions are designed to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. This roadmap starts with an economic focus, but it also facilitates optimization of the governance processes. To maintain good governance, there must be a steady stream of revenues. The Go Lean roadmap calls for member-state governments availing more benefits from the capital & securities markets; for example, public sales of property tax liens. This strategy will be a “win-win” for all, elevate the social contract between the governments and the governed: more revenues drive more services; more services drive more opportunities to benefit the citizens (and all other stakeholders: investors, visitor, diaspora, etc.) of the Caribbean.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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