computer software if it is going to stay competitive toward the 21st century, a Government Senator said yesterday.

Senator Lynda Milligan-Whyte (UBP) made these comments during the a "take note'' debate of the Commission on Competitiveness report.

During her speech to the Upper House that lasted more than one hour, Sen.

Milligan-Whyte introduced the report calling it "a comprehensive analysis of the economy''.

She said that while the report was prepared by the private sector and presented to Government, there was no obligation on Government's part to accept, in whole or in part, any part of it.

However, she said Government was impressed by the work various task forces put into the project but whole point of the "take note'' debate was to encourage input from the community which included the Senate.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Premier the Hon. John Swan commissioned the report to examine Bermuda's competitive position in light of trends inside and outside the Island, most notably the recession.

Many of the 94 recommendations have either been implemented or are in various stages of the implementation process.

However, she said, 44 of those recommendations are under active consideration.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Government was not going to make any formal statement on the issue until it has studied the document fully.

The report, she said, can be divided into five segments; tourism, international Business, future opportunities, protectionist policies and local costs.

She said the Commission used the definition of competitiveness put forward by a Harvard professor which linked a country's ability to achieve increased standards of living to national productivity.

For this reason Bermuda's overall productivity is the report's central focus.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Bermuda's productivity over the last 20 years showed steady growth from 1970 to 1980 which was aided by growth in both the international business sector and tourism.

A recession in the United States curbed growth during 1981-84 although the economy rebounded between 1985-87.

Unfortunately, Bermuda endured a period of negative growth during the years 1989-1993 and this was a "fundamental reason'' for the Commission on Competitiveness' final report.

Furthermore, the Commission cited the consumer price index as a critical statistic which, she said, provides a basis for the comparisons to the United States.

Between 1968-1992 the cost of goods and services rose from $100-$403 while for Bermuda it rose from $100-$509 which represents and increase of 26 percent over the United States prices.

This, she said, represented the cost to tourists and international business executives from the United States when they travelled and shopped in Bermuda's stores.

The central question Sen. Milligan-Whyte urged, was whether Bermuda was giving added value to these purchases which would justify these added costs.

Internationally, Bermuda's economic activity was located within changes in Europe, Latin America and Asia, which were brought about by such treaties as GATT and NAFTA.

Such international facts will have a significant effect on Bermuda's international business and tourist industries.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Bermuda was competing with countries that were offering cheaper services.

Aside from the international factors, there were also domestic factors such as the land, capital and human resources Bermuda has.

Much of Bermuda's protectionist policy to date has been designed to protect the Island given these limitations.

But the protectionist stance the Island has taken needed to be examined, she said, to ensure it was not detrimental to Bermuda given the new local and international realities.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said the report recommended increasing the value of Bermuda's international business and tourism sectors, eliminating exchange controls and improving the efficiency of Government services and local businesses.

Moreover, she said, the Commission suggested looking closely at increasing competition in local monopolies and improvements to the flexibility of labour.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Bermudians needed to reinvest themselves in the tourism industry.

And she called on the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) and the Department of Tourism to combine their marketing efforts so that Bermuda's beaches could be advertised along with its tax free status.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Bermuda needed to look at such industries as computer software, telecommunications and a stock exchange with international businesses listed.

Meantime, Opposition Senator Terry Lister thanked all those persons that had given of their time to produce the report.

He took offence at Government's willingness to "pick and choose'' what it likes and dislikes from the report without any input from the Opposition.

While agreeing that international business "was important to our ongoing success'' he berated talk of "total quality management'' which he said was nothing more than "the flavour of the day''.

Sen. Lister pointed out that total quality management was meaningless unless management stopped dictating to workers and adopted more cooperative approaches.

Turning to other developments in international business such as mutual funds growth and security exchanges, Sen. Lister said Government had done much good in this area.

However he pointed out that the changes, while allowing more Bermudians to get in, had been done before the necessary legislative framework was in place.

Sen. Lister said two recent reports which suggest Bermudians either did not know or had a negative attitude to international business needed to be looked at closely by BIBA and Government.

He chided BIBA for not addressing the advancement of Bermudians in the international business industry.

Sen. Lister said the report's analysis of protectionism was coloured substantially by who they talked to.

He said few blacks were consulted and many others had ties to the United Bermuda party.

Sen Lister continued the debate in the afternoon, focussing on local business and tourism.

He said changing the 60-40 local ownership rule would harm local businesses and make it difficult for them to compete. He was also against opening up all local housing price categories for sale to non-Bermudians because it might leave locals "on the street''.

He brought up the point that many ex-pat workers came to Bermuda with just as much experience as Bermudians, then gained more experience on the Island and somehow became "experts'' in their fields. Those people had to be differentiated between when talking about outside expertise.

It was "particularly bothersome'' to the PLP that non-Bermudians who were brought here for a particular job such as policeman or teacher, and after gaining considerable experience and contacts, transferred to other areas with the permission of Immigration.

Many non-Bermudians were able to get work permit renewals year-in and year-out, he said, with no threat of them being pulled in the event they don't give 100 percent work commitment.

The point ex-pats can expose Bermudians to new skills, he felt, can be carried too far.

Lister's all for holding big sports events but disagrees with duty-free shopping at Airport He said he had serious concerns with the report's claims that "many'' people it had spoken to did not believe racism was a problem here.

What was the need for the racism CURE bill if that was true?, he asked.

Turning to tourism, Sen. Lister said he was all for holding big sports events to make the tourism season year-round.

Having duty-free shopping at the Airport was not something he was for, though, because it might hurt local merchants and Americans might save certain purchases for the Airport, then arrive late, and never spend the US cash.

Noting statistics showing tourism declines while air arrivals improve in the Caribbean and the rest of the world, he said: "We have to wonder why the recession was only affecting us.'' And he was worried Government may be presenting "false hopes'' that now the US economy was improving, tourism here will get better.

He claimed data in the report showed "the story sold to us'' that the recession was to blame for the tourism downturn was simply not true.

Sen. Lister noted the drop-off had gone as far as to significantly affect tourist attractions like Fort. St. Catherine.

And the Island's history of unsteady labour-management relations was not helping, he said. He expressed concern that a call for a joint meeting this week to discuss upcoming contract negotiations was attended by only two out of 20 hoteliers. He hoped the poor start was not a harbinger of things to come.

He suggested more local entertainment as opposed to contract worker musicians to liven things up. "When we get on a plane we are tourists and what is the first thing we want to see?, -- native things,'' he said.

Sen. Lister scolded Tourism for removing the `is Bermuda value for money' question from the airport exit surveys rather than face the "embarrassing'' reply. He noted in 1990, 26 percent of our visitors said Bermuda offered good value for money, and in 1991 the number fell to 14 percent. Thereafter, the question was "eliminated'', he noted. "Whether we deliver value for money has to be the question,'' he said. "To respond to the fall by eliminating the question is totally inappropriate.'' He noted that report figures showed the daily room rate of $180 in Bermuda was the highest second to the BVIs, which was $210. However, the BVIs' hotel occupancy rate was 68 percent compared to 59 percent here.

Another problem he had with Tourism officials' thinking was the relentless targeting of up-market visitors. He noted the report showed it was an increasingly bigger challenge to get those visitors.

Another factor, was while Barbados spent $27 per visitor in luring them to the island, Bermuda spent $73 and did not see as good a return.

"This shows Bermuda cannot reverse the tourism decline with more advertising unless it comes up with product improvement and price value. We are spending considerably more than the other countries yet they are going in the right direction while we are going in the wrong direction.'' Sen. Lister wanted to know, "Why the Tourism Ministry cannot deal with the problems of tourism.'' He believed it was because "a Minister (the Hon. (C.V.) Jim Woolridge) who has sat in the job for an extremely long time may well be lacking in ideas on how one really solves the problem.'' Sen. Lister said he was against a Wedco-like Quango to run tourism for the Island. He was sure a Quango was where the business community would like to take tourism but it would be "another example of private control over a Government responsibility'' as well as "totally inappropriate''.

What it boiled down to, he claimed, was, "The Minister (Mr. Woolridge) is completely not in step with where we should be. The report shows we have fallen completely behind and the Minister continues to make statements that shows he is out of touch and not in step. The people of Bermuda need a successful tourism industry to survive.'' Sen. Gary Pitman (UBP), commending the authors of the report, said already 50 of their 94 recommendations had been carried out or were in the works.

Picking up on Opposition claims one of the commission's major meetings was not reflective of racial diversity, he said he had noticed the same thing and after asking why, was told the PLP had recommended its members not attend.

Sen. Pitman said it was important to note the report was written following a deep recession and the numbers senators were looking at reflected this.

Certain things it had recommended were not the answer to the Island's "lack of air arrivals'', he said, including the small-net eco-tourism market.

One thing that would help was hotel refurbishment and a new luxury resort hotel. "There is no question a number of our hotels are definitely in need of refurbishing,'' he said. Profitability of our hotels was something that ought to be looked at, he felt. Room rates were rising two times the US inflation rate. Hotels and unions must work together, he said.

International sports events was one idea he felt had high potential for boosting tourism.

Sen. Alf Oughton , (Ind.) also congratulated Mr. Mansfield Brock and his team for their efforts. He returned to his call for a management audit of Government departments, noting the report showed 23 percent of the GNP was on Government expenses. A number of reports had been conducted on efficiency in Government, however, "very little progress had been made on implementation''.

He said he also did not support a Quango to fix tourism.

On the issue of Bermuda's traditional targeting of the up-market visitor, he said today's younger rich folk were interested in real value for money despite their wealth. Referring to articles in this newspaper about the Caribbean enjoying tourism booms while Bermuda "sputtered'' to a disappointing end of the year, he said he "could not accept'' the US October elections were to blame for the Island's poor results.

Like the Cayman Island, Sen. Oughton said Tourism had to take a hard look at its marketing strategies.

"Over the last ten years Caribbean arrivals have gone up while Bermuda's have gone down. Surely if it took ten years to happen one would've thought somebody would ask `what is wrong with Bermuda?','' she said.

He said the hoteliers lack of show at the union contract talks meeting was going to be perceived poorly by the public and people overseas as a sort "there we go again...on a rocky road''.

Oughton concerned by the downturn in local entertainment Sen. Oughton said he hoped Government would seriously undertake to find out why Bermudians were not going into the local hotel industry. Was it because few Bermudians were able to get past mid-management positions.

Another concern he had was the "dramatic downturn'' in local entertainment available at hotels especially in the winter.

Maybe the musicians ought to band together and become better organised in training. There was no reason a Bermudian entertainer could not learn Irish ballads.

To illustrate his point on the lack of entertainment, he noted a US Air Bermuda Destination magazine had contained numerous pages on local shopping and even a six-page spread on high-priced housing available here. However, there was barely a page on local entertainment.

He agreed hotel refurbishment was vital, noting businessmen he had put up at some local hotels had complained their rooms were "tacky and sub-standard''.

While hotels said they were holding off on upgrades until tourism increased, a well-marketed first-class facility might bring in the visitors on its own.

"What comes first the chicken or the egg,'' he said.

Holding major sporting events here was also something he supported, he said, noting a Bermudian had been unable to persuade Government to hold a million-dollar prize fishing tournament here that was now a major success in the Cayman's.

Sen. Oughton said he was not and never would be in favour of a casino.

However, he fully supported a national lottery.

He said agriculture ought to be looked at more in depth as a way of boosting the economy, especially fishing.

On that note, he expressed concern spiny lobsters were being imported into Bermuda by hotels and restaurants to such an extent that "nearly all'' spiny lobsters being served were from such places as Belize because they worked out cheaper than Bermuda lobsters, he said. He suggested Bermuda consider a September/October embargo -- such as the seasonal vegetable bans -- on imported spiny lobsters to help the local industry.

Sen. Norma Astwood (Ind.) said the commission did a good job in bringing to the country's attention a number of things that it needed to be alerted to.

But she was disappointed at the lack of women on the commission, saying there had been a "paternalistic approach'' to competitiveness.

The reason why Bermudians were disenchanted with the hotel industry needed to be examined, she said. In her opinion, it was concern over employer trust, loyalty, commitment and job security.

She said she also had concerns we were in a major "information age'', yet "much of what the people need to know was kept secret''. For example, civil servants' mouths were "kept zipped''.

On the issue of contract workers, she said it was important that while we complained about bringing people in, we should be mindful of the importance of sending Bermudians away for training.

She said it was also vital school guidance counsellors had the time to give students career guidance and inform them of what Bermuda College had to offer.

Sen. Astwood added that she remembered a time when prospective students entering the Hotel College would be taken to lunch by teachers so they can see what happens.

She also said that a number of foreign students, who on conclusion of their programmes at the Bermuda College, stay on the Island to work.

"In most foreign countries Bermudians do not have that same opportunity,'' Sen. Atwood said.

She added: "If foreign students take the jobs, Bermudians don't have the opportunity to return from schools and get a job.'' Sen. Astwood also said that Bermudian students did not have anyone to tell them that now that they have completed this course "here are the opportunities for you''.

She also addressed the reason why visitor numbers have dropped.

"Many tourists are looking for real leisure during their holiday periods.

Sun and surf aren't enough,'' Sen. Astwood said.

She continued: "Tourists are not just coming to shop anymore, but Bermuda is still pushing woollen sweaters. We have not caught up with the different lifestyle.

"Many tourists also want something different from what is at home. They can get the Follies at home.'' Sen. Astwood added that sidewalk cafes maybe nice but visitors don't want the "pollution of our bikes.'' She suggested that Bermuda should attract visitors with something that is truly Bermudian.

"Where can you find strictly Bermudian entertainment or a Bermudian meal. We should pay attention to what it is the tourist are saying. They want ambiance when they step off the plane. We don't have anything that is a Bermudian way of life,'' Sen. Astwood said.

In closing Sen. Astwood congratulated the team that put together the report.

Sen. Larry Scott (UBP) congratulated the team and said the report seemed to interest many of the Senators.

"I got the distinct impression that it seemed as though the business community was finally catching up as far as looking forward,'' Sen. Scott said.

He added: "What caught my attention was the idea of national productivity. It missed out on the average Bermudian.

"We have failed to expose children to the nature of the international business industry, then we expect them to fall into it.'' Sen. the Hon. Gerald Simons said he acknowledged the work of the commission and was pleased that they set out clearly what their task was.

"We in Bermuda are very fortunate as people. We have seen nothing but an improving standard of living due to competitiveness,'' Sen. Simons said.

However, he added, "Bermudians find costs in Bermuda uncompetitive therefore they go abroad to buy goods.'' Sen. Simons also said that Bermuda needs to make working in the hotel industry more attractive.

Sen. Milton Scott (PLP) called the report a "good discussion document'' but the social component was missing.

"Our curriculum is not responsible to the needs of local and international business industry,'' Sen. Scott said.

He added: "We need to get individuals exposed in the business with a mentor programme.'' Sen. Yvette Swan (UBP) said she disagreed with the idea of keeping shops open later, including Sundays.

"That would add to the break-down in families. There has to be a time out.'' She also said that Bermuda had a high percentage of entertainment per capita.

"Bermuda must make sure all avenues of entertainment are open for our children,'' Sen. Swan said.

She also had an answer as to why guidance counsellors were not working in schools.

"They have to spend the majority of their time dealing with behaviour counselling, which should be the job of parents, instead of career guidance.

Debate continues in tomorrow's newspaper.