BILL GATES IS NO LONGER THE WORLD’S WEALTHIEST MAN!!!!
July 5, 2007
EDWARD HARRIS AT LARGE!
BILL GATES IS NO LONGER THE WORLD’S WEALTHIEST MAN!!!!
Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim had surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest man on the planet. Gates has led Forbes’ rich list for the last 13 years.
Who is St. Lucia’s wealthiest person? It is this type of information that drives the competitive spirit among people. In recent times a certain business magazine has been giving information on newly registered businesses in St. Lucia and as a result trends were able to be spotted. Property development companies emerged as one of the leading areas of business activity. It is time for someone in the publishing business to produce information on the 100 wealthiest persons in St. Lucia.
When the status of wealth is established as to who owns what, the next logical step will be to investigate how they were able to gain such wealth. Was it inheritance, business, stock market, invention or what? Of course illegal operators will not be included. We must conclude that the United States of America is the world power it is because it drives competition at all levels by information and statistics. Freedom to challenge even the highest authority in the land is also a main ingredient. The ability to influence the decision making process at the highest level is a key driver that will keep the USA in its leadership role for a long time into the future. However, as it is with Bill Gates, it can be with USA. The USA is being challenged on several fronts even efforts to destabilize the nation through terrorist threats are being used against it.
In today’s world we hear a lot of buzz words which in relation to the Caribbean will always be buzz words unless a paradigm shift is made from the way we did it 50 years ago to what the world demands of us today. The Conference on the Caribbean in Washington is now behind us. I guess we will have to wait a while to assess our gains if any. However, in reality we in the Caribbean expect the developed world the do things for us that we need to do for ourselves. What are we doing at home to drive advancement of commerce and ultimately our economies? How long are we going to rely on balance of payment support and development funding from external sources? In this part of the world we should be after innovation and technology. Various competitions should be mounted to attract thinkers to come forward with ideas. This type of activity will create the type of mind set necessary to drive innovation. Focus groups must get together to discuss innovation and technology and make them part of their thinking process.
Why do we make it so hard for our people to strive and do well, even to excel? I am calling for a Secretariat of Innovation and technology. There must be a designated place where information, encouragement and funding will be given to key areas of development. Ireland did not get where they are by just going merrily along but rather a deliberate effort was make to transform their economy using ICT as the vehicle. For years now our professionals have been studying the Singapore and other successful small states models without being able to adopt the methods used in those countries in their homeland. The call at the Conference on the Caribbean for members of the Diaspora to return to their homeland and assist in their development is long overdue but where is the money going to come from? Until now most of the times our people return home they get frustrated because the tools are not in place to assist them to achieve the stated objective. This has been happening much too long.
It is time for our Governments to form a strategic alliance with the Private Sector and appoint a task force to promote business cooperation around the world. Put the embassies to work to coordinate business conferences and investigate opportunities for participation at all leading trade exhibitions. We are in dire need of new ideas to drive our businesses. Since we are playing catch up, we have to take the fight to the competition and learn from the leaders. Time lost does impact upon the future. It is time to take action. There has been enough talk. Let us channel our resources to get the best results, the type of results that will transform lives and give our people greater confidence. Help alleviate property and hopelessness. Don’t just create an environment to make our people merely survive but rather to create abundance. That should be our goal. It cannot be achieved the way we are currently dealing with the challenges.
Occasionally I receive some words of encouragement from persons who read my articles from time to time. Recently I am being stopped on the streets and encouraged but I must confess I am ecstatic when I receive an email from a distant land. Through the medium of the internet communication has been truly liberalized and accessible. Such an occasion occurred this week when I received a letter from a Toastmaster in Malaysia.
The gentleman said he came across my article about St. Lucia and he noted I was a Toastmaster. He went on to say that he was a Toastmaster for almost 20 years and started a project in January of 2006 to collect a post-card from every country in the world. So far he received postcards from 186 countries but doesn’t know how yet to get one from St. Lucia. Hope you can help me. He promised to send me one as well – a postcard of Penang Island, Malaysia.
Join me in promoting St. Lucia through the various writing opportunities available on the internet in Blogs and Social Communities.
Keep the Faith, God is in Charge, Expect Miracles in 2007.
Edward Harris
Email: edharas@searchbigdaddy.com
http://www.stluciasimplybeautiful.com
http://www.stluciarealtors.com