Q and A with Milton Samuda, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC)

What is the JCC's vision, mission and objectives/goals? Are these being realised?

We don't have a vision/mission statement, which is unusual. I suppose it's because of the age of the organisation. We are over 230 years old, but we view ourselves as the voice of business. In fact, that is our tagline. The mission is to ensure that members' interest are secured; to make sure that in the changing economy, and with the changing government policies and in engaging the government of today, regardless of which party is in power, we constantly advance the welfare, the views, and the interests of our members. Our vision is to see a strong, prosperous, growing Ja-maican economy.

Unfortunately, some of these objectives are not being realised. In terms of representing our members strongly, I think we do a very good job. I think our members have been responsive, but the vision that we all have for Jamaica obviously has not yet materialised. We just have to continue to do whatever it is we can do to make it possible. We are not just in it for the short run. I believe there is a legacy that we must seek to leave to our children, which is an economy in better shape than it is now.

How does the organisation arrive at its objectives and goals?

The JCC is a very democratic organisation. The members elect a board in the annual general meeting and from that board the executive is elected ?president, vice-presidents, honorary treasurer. So, from the very beginning, we are answerable to and accountable to our members, but more importantly, in between elections the democracy continues. We are constantly interfacing with our members, even canvassing them formally sometimes to ascertain what their views are, what are their needs and whether they view us as responsive to those needs so that we don't lose touch with them.

How is the 230-year-old JCC staying relevant in the 21st century?

In addition to improving our website, the JCC will become more technologically savvy, using the Internet to not only communicate, but to also serve members. Gone are the days when business matching has to be done face-to-face, or in a meeting, or at a conference. We can take the contacts that we have made and leverage those into Internet meetings or to exchange information via the Internet. We can arrange web conferences, so that is the area in which we are going to go. Those are services.

What will keep the JCC constantly relevant is our keeping an acute and astute eye on what is happening in the economy so that we can constantly guard the interest of our members, because that's what our members want.

What are the value-added features and offerings of the JCC to its members?

It goes back to the advocacy and what we do on the ground. It's hard to put a price tag on agitating to change a government policy that is inimical to the business environment or to growth, but we do that all the time.

It's hard to put a price tag on the work that we do in the inner-city communities and how that helps to retain some sort of stability in those communities and, therefore, in the business environments around them. It's hard to put a price tag on the quiet diplomacy that we do behind the scenes with multilateral agencies and with the banking community so that our members benefit. Those are some of the value-added things that the JCC is engaged in and which our members directly benefit from.