A vision is a mental picture of a desired future.  A shared I vision is when this is common for a group.  Often a vision is formulated in a statement. In this way,  it is externalized and shared, but the statement is not the vision. The statement should be short. The vision should be challenging but achievable. A vision is a powerful mental tool for individual, organizations and countries to achieve objectives.

Countries also apply vision as a governance tool.  The vision is part of a long term strategic plan. Many often refer to the practice of Singapore.  Barbados is also used as the Best Practice for the Caribbean. These plans usually cover a period of 20 years.

The strategic plan of Barbados consists of the following elements:

EXECUTIVESUMMARY ..................................................................................8

I.ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL OVERVIEW .............................................11

II.ANALYSIS OF OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD......................................17

III.THE THEME ..........................................................................................25

IV.CORE VALUES ......................................................................................26

V.THE VISION ..........................................................................................27

VI.STRATEGIC GOALS .............................................................................29

GOALONE:

“INSPIRED,EXALTING, FREE”:

UNLEASHINGTHE SPIRIT OF THE NATION .......................................................................31

GOALTWO:

“FIRMCRAFTSMEN OF OUR FATE”:

NEWGOVERNANCE FOR NEW TIMES................................................................................32

GOALTHREE:

“STRENGTHAND UNITY”:

BUILDINGSOCIAL CAPITAL................................................................................................34

GOALFOUR:

“THESEFIELDS AND HILLS”:

STRENGTHENINGTHE PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

ANDPRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT……………..........................….. .... 35

GOALFIVE:

“UPWARDAND ONWARD”:

ENHANCINGBARBADOS’ PROSPERITY AND COMPETITIVENESS.......................36

GOALSIX:

“STRICT GUARDIANS OF OUR HERITAGE”:

BRANDINGBARBADOS GLOBALLY….………………………….…............ 38

VII.NATIONAL OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND TARGETS.....................39

VIII. FINANCIAL RESOURCES ............................................................................90

IX. IMPLEMENTATION .....................................................................................91

X.PLANNING MATRIX ...................................................................................92

The strategic plan of Curaçao – the Island of Education and Sophistication consists of the following elements:

Introduction 2

1 Executive Summary 4

2 Curaçao’sStrength & Weaknesses 7

3 Curaçao’sEconomic Disadvantages & Strategic Weaknesses 18

4 Analysis 20

5 The Strategy of Education &Sophistication 21

6 The Value of Strategic Planning 28

7 The Clusters30

8 Conclusion 32 (http://www.amblaja.esteri.it/NR/rdonlyres/0BCFC657-5DF2-4D9F-BBEB-8AC6535FDF97/18726/2012_06_21whitePaperInvestorsCuracao.pdf,Accessed on 5 March 2013)

Curacao has a long tradition of strategic planning. One of the first encountered is the report by the Dutch member of parliament Mr. van Kol, dated 1901.  The title is “Een nood lijdende kolonie” (A colony in peril). The Dutch parliament was extremely concerned of the poor conditions of the economy in the islands and the poverty.  The report presents a series of possible economic projects the develop the economy.

In the 1976,  a development plan was developed for the Netherlands Antilles. This as part of a process that should have led to the independence of the Netherlands Antilles, in the slipstream of Suriname whobecame independent in 1975.

In 1997,  the consulting firm Arthur Andersenfacilitated the “2020: Creating the Caribbean Future”.  It was one of the sources of inspirations of the “Vishon Korsou” of 1999. After a few years,  this process was stopped because the government could not subsidize it any longer. Later there was an attempt to restart the project government project or process. But it got lost in the bureaucracy

“Island of Education and Sophistication” (http://www.amblaja.esteri.it/NR/rdonlyres/0BCFC657-5DF2-4D9F-BBEB-8AC6535FDF97/18726/2012_06_21whitePaperInvestorsCuracao.pdf,Accessed on 4 March 2013).  The paper is not dated. This process was followed by the process “5Star Curacao”. This process is also poorly documented.

In 2005, when QueenBeatrix was celebrating the 25th year of her reign, the development plan of 1976 was revisited, but not much was done with the result.

Over the recent years,  many sectors plan have seen the light of day:Master plan for Tourism. ICT Master plan. Plan logistic Hub.  Recently a plan for the Airport City has beendeveloped.  Also, a plan for a KnowledgeZone and one for the Creative Zone.

The main problem ofCuracao is the implementation or realization of a vision. The track record ispoor. Let us focus on the plan.  In 2013, the government has started again toprepare for a master plan. In this context let us have a look at Curacao. Whatare the strengths and weaknesses of Curacao?

The strengths are:

Location

Dutch kingdom

Tax structure

Infrastructure

Multilingual

Talent of the people

UNESCO recognizes Curacao as part of the World Heritage and Curacao has two UNESCO university chairs. One on SIDS and the other on desalination of seawater.

Curacao is a SIDS. The weakness are:

Small scale

Governance

Political culture

The vision for Curacao is:To be the best island in the Caribbean.

The economic development is developed by sector build on foundation layers. The foundation layers are:

Government

Law

Harbor and airport

Roads

Utilities

ICT

Education

Healthcare

Social welfare

On this layers that together form a foundation the following sectors are developed:

ICT

Education

Tourism

Financial sector

But it is all about cross sector innovation:

Airport City, where logistic,tourism, ICT, financial sector, education and  research.

Kzone

Creative zone

Green Town

Logistical hub

Events

Medical Tourism

But it all starts with the foundation layers:

The government policies should be solid and civil service must be well structured and functioning. His is currently not the case in Curacao. For example, it takes to long to get business permits.

There should be the rule of law. Economic activity should be regulated and protected by law. Being part of the Dutch Kingdom provides extra legal protection, but the judicial systemis slow and expensive. As many parts of the world.

Harbor and airport of Curacaoboth have problems with their quality management systems. This must be restored.

Since 2010, the roads in Curacao deteriorated.

The utility company faces serious issues.

The ICT structure should be further upgraded. Curacao needs more bandwidth at more affordable prices.

The quality of education should be further improved. Learners should be prepared for the knowledge society.

Healthcare should be improved. The construction of the state of the art hospital has been postponed by government for decades but should start as soon as possible. The system is being reformed because the cost are too high. This is partially caused by the demographic shift.  The population is aging.

The social welfare system of Curacao is much better than the region, but reforms have taken place becausethe system has become unsustainable. Here, also the demographic shift is a factor. Still this is a factor that pulls many from the region to migrate to Curacao. Sometimes even illegal.