Musa’s State of the Nation: Good and getting better
The delivering of the State of the Nation address on the steps of the Administration Building in Belmopan seems to have become a People’s Untied Party tradition. This morning, speaking before a joint session of the House and Senate, Prime Minister Said Musa used the occasion to paint an upbeat picture of where the nation has been and the general direction in which it’s going. With the country having entered its third year of PUP rule Musa could credibly point to an economic rebound largely of his own creation.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“The primary and perhaps most important indicator of a nation’s economic performance lies in its real GDP growth rate. Belize’s real GDP growth is currently at 6.4%. By any account, that is a considerable rate of growth. This growth was accomplished without inflation.”
“This healthy state of Belizean economy is reflected in the fact that all around us, local and international entrepreneurs are confidently and aggressively investing in Belize in the shrimp industry, in tourism, in the IT-related business and a number of other areas. There seems to be no letting up. With this kind if investor confidence, the people of Belize are assured of the continuing strength of the Belize dollar and growth of the Belizean economy.”
While the Prime Minister’s economic news was primarily positive, with significant increases in exports of citrus, bananas and especially seafood, Musa did sound a few notes of caution–particularly on the international front.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I must tell you, however, that the developed countries do not make it easy. Globalisation moves inexorably forward, threatening to extinguish existing special and differential treatment historically accorded to our exports. Belize joins the other Caribbean and ACP countries in lobbying for a gradual implementation of any new WTO trade liberalisation regime so that we can buy time to diversify and develop other local industries.”
“But when we try to develop alternative sources of revenue such as international financial services, the OECD countries condemn and brand these initiatives as “harmful tax practices” and seek to pressure small countries to adopt pre-packaged measures guaranteed to destroy these industries. While we will ensure that the requisite legislation is in place to guarantee a well regulated and transparent offshore financial services industry, we cannot just simply give in to the demands of the OECD countries that are like a tax cartel trying to end low tax policies that attract investments from abroad.”
The Prime Minister continued to catalogue his government’s achievements, citing impressive growth in tourism, employment, housing and infrastructure, along with advances in education, health and good governance. But in the end, he said all the material advances mattered little without a framework of freedom.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“My fellow Belizean: The challenge we face at the dawn of the new millennium is to protect the life and integrity of our nation and to preserve the liberty of our citizens. The mission is to set Belize free; to pursue the happiness of our people. But freedom is not a safe habour, a resting place, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, to change, to reform, to build a modern Belize with justice and opportunity for all.”
“This struggle for freedom carries with it responsibility. It is not a freedom of people to kill each other with reckless abandon. It is not a freedom to break the law with impunity. It is not a freedom for children to have children.”
“It is a freedom where every child can find knowledge to enrich the mind, and to be creative. It is a freedom to find dignity in work and enterprise. It is freedom that beckons us toward a shared future in peace and love.”
With a 26 to 3 majority in the House, the Prime Minister would usually not have to worry about crowd support. But this morning he was really preaching to the choir as the UDP representatives and senators did not attend the special session.
