Government needs to be fully committed to supporting the private sector in order to help Bermuda recover from the economic downturn.

That is the view of Brent Wilton, deputy secretary-general of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), based in Geneva, Switzerland, who is visiting the Island this week to speak at the Bermuda Employers’ Council (BEC) annual general meeting at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and meeting with the members of the board this week.

Mr Wilton, who is on his third visit to the country in six years, will talk about the value to national economies of sustaining and maintaining employment and governments’ role in that process at the event, which will also mark the BEC’s 50th anniversary and the launch of the Bermuda Business Hall of Fame and Malcolm Dixon Scholarship tomorrow.

He said the current focus was on the global economy and coming out of the recession, as well as the challenges faced and the shift in power from the US to the likes of China who were now leading the way.

“The fact is that the employment challenges are not going to go away,” he said. “If anything they are harder and deeper than anyone thought they would be.

“So I will be talking about how Government and society really needs to give the private sector a hand to help it sustain and maintain jobs.”

But Mr Wilton also believes that Bermuda has a unique opportunity to redefine itself in the world marketplace, while tackling the issues of maintaining the momentum of a small economy, preventing a ‘brain drain’ of talent from the Island and controlling fiscal spending.

He said that the country was restricted on the amount it could realistically borrow due to its economic size and yet there was so much scope for Government to assist businesses through regulatory or advocacy means.

Commending the BEC for its role in setting up the Work Ready Programme which helps students to bridge the gap between the classroom and industry through businesses going into the schools and getting involved in the education programme, Mr Wilton reckons that Government needs to come on board with more initiatives of this kind.

Citing higher levels of unemployment than the Island had ever seen before, resulting in a lower tax base, in addition to a dependence on tourism and financial services as two of the key drivers of the economy in the past, he said the time was right to look at diversifying its offering and encouraging entrepreneurship in order to create jobs and boost the labour market.

Serving members in 147 countries across the world, the IOE has taken its global experience to a range of economies during an economic crisis which has brought many nations and companies to their knees.

Mr Wilton foresees ongoing uncertainity and volatility in the future due to the fact that the world is so interconnected, as witnessed in the time lag effect from the fallout in the US hitting Bermuda, including the credit crunch and subsequently regulation of the banking industry and the housing bubble.

He said that Bermuda needed to focus on its traditional strengths as a service provider and an environment conducive to business to ensure its future success, while getting away from the gang-related violence and shootings which have dogged the Island in recent months.

“Bermuda needs to have an economy which is large enough to engage a population that wants to work within it and generates the revenue needed for Government to function and for its children not to be involved with the violence and degradation which can come about by a lack of job opportunities and employment prospects,” he said.

“I think everyone has had a big wake-up shock and hopefully will remember it.”