Date: Thursday 28 July 2022
Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce has broadly welcomed the Chief Minister’s recent comments in Tynwald and the publishing of the Our Island, Our Future: Isle of Man Economic Strategy document.
The strategy sets out Government’s vision for the next 10 to 15 years to build a ‘secure, vibrant, sustainable future for the Island’. Speaking in Tynwald last week, Chief Minister Alf Cannan MHK described it as a ‘comprehensive analysis and review of the Island’s current economy, an evaluation of our future opportunities, and a draft road map to bring more prosperity and security to the people of the Isle of Man’. Key targets include reaching a GDP of £10billion and creating 5,000 jobs by 2032, plus increasing the Island’s population to 100,000 by 2037.
Commenting on the strategy, Chamber Vice-President Claire Watterson said: “While we are supportive of the direction and ambition of the strategy, we need to see a clear plan of execution, including some deliverables, action and measurable improvement. While it does a good job of laying out the complex problems we are facing and signposting a strong and positive direction of travel, there is a danger this could turn into an endless stream of consultations and reports if there are not concrete proposals showing how we will get there. The Ministers need to be consistent in their will to deliver and hold their departments and each other to account, as they are in turn accountable to the electorate. With that context in mind, we would like to see more detail on how the new strategy will be executed.”
The Chamber Vice-President added that for the programme to be a success it needs strong leadership and engagement in all levels of the civil service, but especially the senior members so that it can deliver proactive and positive change that sticks. She said: “This in itself could be challenging as the background KPMG research showed a need for more highly-developed leadership skills across all sectors on the Island, especially if we are to deliver collaboratively against such an ambitious plan. We see the plan as a good first step to identifying issues that Chamber has been lobbying on for some time. Our members across all sectors are keen to work closely with Government in developing the ‘how’ element of the strategy to ensure delivery and execution. Overall, we look forward to supporting local businesses to take advantage of the strategy’s ambitions to give the Island a vibrant and sustainable future.”
In Tynwald on July 19th the Chief Minister said that the draft economic strategy would now be the subject of ‘wide-reaching and engaging consultation over the summer’ and a key feature at the Government Conference in September. An updated version of the strategy is scheduled to be brought back for debate in Tynwald in November this year.