The Government has a key role to play in creating an enabling environment that fosters productivity, says Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr.

“We have a central role… in terms of listening to the private sector, listening across government, ensuring that we are creating the environment that is enabling and collaborative, and that we are doing what we have to do to strengthen the partnerships, create the regulatory framework and all of the mechanisms that are required for us to truly achieve productivity,” he said.

The Minister was speaking during a corporate consultation hosted by the Institute for Workforce Education and Development (IWED) on Wednesday (July 1), at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston.

Mr. Charles also underscored the need to confront an evolving global market, where challenges are intensifying and competitiveness is heightened.

“For Jamaica to really make it, to unlock our potential, for us to be productive, we’re going to have to start thinking about outcomes, and not just what a task before us is but what our contribution to achieving that outcome must be. That’s where the Government needs to position itself [and] that’s where, as Minister of Labour, I’m driving that conversation,” he said.

Mr. Charles highlighted the importance of focusing on measurable results and leveraging labour market information for the country’s benefit.

He further noted the US$20-million Social Protection for Increased Resilience and Opportunity (SPIRO) Project.

This initiative, funded by the World Bank, aims to expand Jamaica’s social protection coverage by establishing a national unemployment insurance programme and strengthening the overall delivery system.

“The SPIRO project is driving us towards increased resilience. It’s geared towards strengthening our Labour Market Information System (LMIS) so that we can forecast labour market needs and identify the future skills to allow us to align education with industry and better prepare ourselves by expanding skills training, focusing on what is important and supporting the flexibility and agility required if we are going to have skills that must be transitional,” the Minister stated.

Mr. Charles noted that consultants have already been engaged under the project, adding, “We are driving forward in that work to make sure that, as a government, we can provide for you that platform, that database to help you in your business in the private sector to better be able to define what your future should be.”