Lobby for businesses with The Hague

The Daily Herald writes that Commissioner of Economic Affairs Chris Johnson met with Saba Chamber of Commerce members Kelly Johnson and Wolfgang Tooten. The purpose of Tuesday’s meeting was to discuss lobbying points of the Saba business community to be discussed with the ministries in The Hague, when the Executive Council travels there for the annual Caribbean Netherlands Week.
Also discussed was the fact that various stakeholders on the island must be taken into account during the upcoming constitutional evaluation. “Those in the business community are the key-stakeholders as far as economic development goes. Even if you talk about poverty alleviation, you must have economic development,” Commissioner Johnson said in a statement issued by Saba Government Information Service.
Tooten mentioned they also discussed an increase of the minimum wage, which he said, has the business community’s support. “You can’t always take from people, sometimes you have to give back,” Tooten explained. He also said that by lowering taxes, people would be able to spend more, which would benefi t the economy as a whole.
Commissioner Johnson said this showed the cooperation between the Island Government and the business community. “The government looks forward to lobbying on behalf of the business community,” Johnson said.