Treasury Minister and Chamber of Commerce President warn against complacency in coming months Part 1

At the recent Chamber of Commerce AGM and lunch, the Chamber’s President, John Hollis and Treasury Minister, Allan Bell both warned of a tough time ahead and cautioned business leaders not to become complacent.

Mr Hollis, an accountant, chose the government’s strategic plan as the subject of his speech - as he believes it is how the government responds to the themes in the document that will play a significant part in determining the fortunes of the Island – although he did state he would have preferred it to have been more business ‘focused’.

He identified the four themes as: Income employment and the economy; Government spending and revenues; Legislation and Regulation; and Quality of life.

He explained that the Council had drawn up a list of priority areas for Chamber members to consider when pursuing the continued success of the Island’s economy.

He identified them as: Recruitment skills and training; Government Infrastructure and costs; Infrastructure improvement – especially town centres; Legislation; Future economic growth; Marketing the Island; Transportation – particularly to and from the Island; and Work permits and population management.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, none of these priorities are new or revolutionary; and this fact was partially acknowledged by Mr Hollis.

He saw the cost of employment as a key issue, stating that the IOM is no longer a cheap place to do business; and he accused unnamed parties of hijacking the principle of a minimum wage ‘safety net’, for the benefit of their own hidden agendas.

Although not promulgating government ‘cost-cutting’ exercises, he clearly called for greater use of private sector methods, and possibly labour, in providing government services. He called, although obliquely, for a reduction in the number of local authorities and welcomed the review of public sector pension schemes.

Mr Hollis also subtlety made reference to the review of the scope and structure of government, undertaken at the request of a previous administration, and suggested it should not be allowed to gather dust in a draw.

The Manx Herald agrees with this point but sees no urgency, on the part of this administration, to accede to the Chamber’s, or many other organisations’, such as P A G, wish to see the report debated by Tynwald.

Again, without overtly calling for a relaxation in the work permit legislation, Mr Hollis made it clear that the current system is seen as onerous and not entirely necessary.

However, this stance would appear to fly in the face of popular opinion and clearly represents the business community’s ‘self-interest and not that of the public’s.

In applauding the introduction, by the Treasury Minister, of the town and village regeneration fund, Mr Hollis ran the risk of offending half the Island by saying that Douglas should be the priority target for the investment.

Whilst acknowledging his belief that the payback on the investment would be initially quicker in Douglas, the Manx Herald believes that the prevalence of this type of ‘Douglas centric’ mindset is detrimental to the policy of creating a ‘Sustainable Island’.

Mr Hollis touched upon tourism, and said that it continued to be an important sector for the Island but admitted it had been area neglected by the Chamber, but this would change.

Travel costs, to and from the Island, were highlighted as an area of concern and he said that the recent experience of EuroManx’s collapse demonstrated the vulnerability of transport links. The Chamber would support a review of the ‘open skies’ policy etc, he declared.

In bringing his speech to a close, Mr Hollis said that the impending visit by the IMF was just one more challenge for the Island to overcome; but overall he gave the impression he was optimistic for the Island’s future.