MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Doling out the ammunition”: Retiring FIDC Boss looks back.

“It's given me a huge amount of respect for what people do in all walks of life here, growing their businesses.”

This was Julian Morris, who leaves the Falkland Islands on Saturday, talking about his three and a half year term as General Manager of the Islands' Development Corporation (FIDC).

Asked by Falkland Islands Radio's Stacey Bragger on Wednesday how he would describe the three and a half years that he has spent in the Falkland Islands, Mr. Morris summed it up with the single word, "wonderful"

Deciding to leave the Islands, he said, was for him and his wife, Amanda, a case of "the head really over-ruling what the heart wants to do." However there were things that they wished to do, which would be difficult to do in the Falklands.

The most enjoyable thing about the job, said Mr.Morris, was working with people from all sorts and sizes of industry. As an example he instanced the experience of visiting farmers in remote locations and seeing first hand what they had to do to make a living. That, he said, had been very motivating, "because you think, if I can help that person get a thousand pounds more, that'll make a real difference."

Among the highlights of his time in the Islands, Mr.Morris listed the establishment of the Falkland Islands Meat Company (FIMCO) and seeing the new abattoir at Sand Bay working well and smoothly to high standards.

The losses made by FIMCO this year, were described by Mr.Morris as hugely disappointing, but needed to be seen against the background of an unforeseen 25% drop in global meat prices. In operational terms, the abattoir had met all the key objectives set by the FIMCO Board: they had processed 30,000 sheep and achieved productivity of 2000 sheep per week, they had been able to ship product direct to customers in continental Europe, without it having to go through the UK and had maintained supplies of fresh meat to the local market during a very busy export season.

Among other key projects, which had occupied Mr.Morris during his time at FIDC, were the establishment of a container service, linking the Falklands better to the rest of the world. It was essential, said Morris that people running businesses in the Falkland should be able to reach global markets and likewise people importing things ought to be able to import things from wherever they chose.

A particular case in point was provided by wool, the Islands' most traditional export. Julian Morris said that in the twenty-first century for the Falklands wool clip not to be sold as Falklands wool was to him "quite shocking." While he acknowledged that farmers had a right to decide for themselves what they did, he considered that the establishment of a farmers' cooperative along the lines suggested by the recent Wool Strategy Report was vital, adding "One of the challenges of a small community is getting people to work together. The Falklands has so much to gain by people coming together and instead of fighting among themselves, fighting the rest of the world".

What the Wool Plan was suggesting was simply following what many wool producers were already doing by way of seeking different markets and selling directly to processors. By combining in these efforts, the farmers' position would be much stronger, said Morris.

Integration and connectivity also featured in some of the other key projects that Julian Morris listed as having occupied much of his working time in the Falklands.

Among these were the operation of the inter island shipping service and the attempt to improve air access to the Falklands. While the attitude of the current Argentinean Government made the development of further air links with the South American Continent unlikely, Morris drew some hope that discussions currently under way between the British Ministry of Defence, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Falkland Islands Government might succeed in making the so-called air bridge flight directly to the UK more user-friendly for all concerned.

Mr. Morris was optimistic when asked about the current state of the Falkland Islands economy. The annual survey of business attitudes carried out by FIDC had shown, he said, that people were expecting to develop and grow their own businesses, despite having no expectation of overall economic growth. In effect, therefore, people were growing the economy for themselves, but the need to help that economy to grow in an effective way was underscored by "the need to get some strategic plans in place: ports, infrastructure, the kind of things that make a difference to everybody."

FIDC's role is evolving and will continue to evolve, said Morris, though he believed that its relative role in the economy was decreasing, which was as it should be as the private sector was pushing ahead. FIDC would remain a crucial source of finance and would continue to encourage and facilitate infrastructure developments.

He concluded, "It's really about helping people do what they want to do in the economy. Rather than waving the flag at the front saying ?follow me', we should be at the back doling out the ammunition."

John Fowler (Mercopress) Stanley