Nearing the end of his first year as IBF chairman, managing partner of Ernst & Young, Jan Spiering, is intent on bringing more planning to Bermuda's business and socio-economic development.

The IBF has established three sub-committees to concentrate on areas of particular interest. They include the compilation of relevant statistics; a focus on education for Bermudians; and ensuring future telecommunications needs are met.

He said: "We need to improve our statistics gathering and information in order to make informed decisions going forward. We have set up a sub-group to get that information and prepare a paper which could then be discussed in the widest forum.'' With the Island's limited infrastructure, a key plan is to ensure that Bermuda firms will be the strongest businesses that will be needed in the first decade of the new millennium.

Mr. Spiering noted: "We have to try to diversify. We can't have all of our eggs in one basket. We have a very large, very good insurance community here.

That is great. We also have a tremendous bias toward North America. That is also great. But more diversification is needed, more European or other regional business, and other types of business like investment management or banking.

"Just like a company, Bermuda needs to make sure that there is a diverse line of products, as well as diverse geographical areas from which the customers come.'' Planning for the future requires a useful body of statistical information.

Bermuda has been somewhat low profile in seeking information from its customers.

He said: "We have a sensible regulatory process and that's why some people come here -- to escape what they consider over-regulation from other jurisdictions. But we can get appropriate statistics without becoming overly bureaucratic in the process.'' The IBF has been slimmed down from its sometimes unwieldy 45-strong membership of the past to 25 senior government and business leaders. Appointed as chairman last January, Mr. Spiering serves at the leisure of the Minister of Finance.

In terms of education, he said: "The importance of participation by all Bermudians in what I see as huge opportunities in international business must be realised. We have a sub-group that is set up to make recommendations on how the opportunities we see in business for the next five to 15 years are appropriately conveyed to the career counsellors and made available to the education system.'' Telecommunications development has also been identified as important for the Island's competitive position, going forward.

Mr. Spiering said: "We have talked to the service providers and to government to make sure that the needs of the international business community are fully understood. We have seen good progress in that regard.

"If we are going to set up an international business centre that requires a lot of data flow from different countries, the cost of that data flow to Bermuda has to be constantly monitored and constantly addressed.'' The IBF is also addressing perceptions of international business. Bermudians must remain knowledgeable of the variety of benefits derived from offshore business and acknowledge that international business cannot continue to flourish without the Island's tourism infrastructure.

Mr. Spiering envisions a future where travelling international business people see a visit to Bermuda fully as an opportunity to mix business with pleasure -- an opportunity to bring family members along for relaxation.

He said: "The combination of tourism and international business is so blurred and interconnected that the importance of both to each other can't be over-stated.

"One concern is that there is sometimes so much focus on international business and not enough discussion on how we can work better to improve tourism. Both need the airlift and obviously the best hotel rooms available.'' He said international business has concentrated on its own success to the exclusion of tourism, even though business travellers make up a not insignificant portion of air visitor arrivals and hotel occupiers.

One suggestion is that more business conferences can be attracted to Bermuda, which would also increase the amount of exposure to the Island for future vacationers.

He said growth in international business is good, but tourism must also be healthy.

"We have to agree to that,'' he said, "and decide what we can do about it.

Hotel properties need investment and that won't happen unless the investors think they will get a return. All of us, including international business, have a responsibility to turn the current climate around.'' Other useful questions that should be answered, he said, include: How many cars can be sustained on Bermuda's roads? How many expatriates do we have, and in which categories? And which categories provide opportunities for Bermudians, through education, to fill those roles in the future? How can changes be made to benefit Bermuda as a whole? He said: "I don't think that we have been thinking far enough ahead as to where Bermuda is going. Education is a good example. People have been getting qualifications that overload certain sectors of the community, because they didn't fully anticipate the employment trends of the future.

"You end up needing all kinds of expatriates in certain areas and a whole number of Bermudians competing for a few jobs in another area.'' He noted that just one third of Bermuda's accountants are Bermudians. He estimated about 900 accountants on the Island, just 300 of whom are Bermudian.

Mr. Spiering said: "There is a lot of room for Bermudians. I'd like to see the message out there that there's a huge opportunity for Bermudians who will go through the educational process.''