Rinke Karman, Economist

Rinke Karman is the part of the team of economists at the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce. He studied economics in Holland at Rotterdam University. After graduating, he took his first job with the Ministry of Housing in Den Haag, where he worked for seven years as an accountant, specializing in subsidies for low-income households. Karman started working at the Chamber seven years ago when he and his wife decided to move to the island to be closer to her parents.

TEXT HEATHER DE PAULO

CBM: What do you do at the Chamber?
RK: My job here is in the area of macroeconomic and socio-economic issues, such as tax reform, health reform, sustainable economic development, pension system reform and employment and economic planning issues. I advise more for general topics, while at the moment, my colleague, Dennis Dare, works more with projects, like export. The advice I give indirectly helps small business. If I advise on the reform of taxes, it’s in the general interest of the economy, specifically the entrepreneurs. For example, lowering profit tax is in the interest of the entrepreneurs. So, I advise the government on what would help the local business.

I also write about recent, cyclical economic trends based on the econometric model developed by the Chamber four times a year. It is distributed by email to whoever is interested and parts of it are posted on the Chamber’s Facebook page.

CBM: What do you find most rewarding in your job?
RK: In Holland I was a specialist, maybe two to three people knew about the work I did and the job duties were very specific. I did mostly the same thing every day. Here it’s very broad; any topic with economic content passes my desk. I like to puzzle, to understand complex problems. I enjoy the challenges every day.

CBM: What do you find the most challenging?
RK: The core of my job is to explain the economic situation to others and to offer options to move further from there. My biggest challenge is to find the right way to communicate with others so they can understand the situation. In my former job in Holland, I was a specialist and those I worked with were in the same field, so I could speak in technical terms, like a doctor speaking to a doctor. Here, I am communicating with people who do not have a background related to economics, so I find it a challenge to convey the information in a way that’s easily understandable to everyone.

CBM: What do you wish businesses knew, but isn’t common knowledge, about the Chamber?
RK: The Chamber has three roles: administrative (the registry), informing the public and entrepreneurs about specific tasks and lobbying to the government. Everyone pretty much knows that the Chamber maintains the registry and provides advice and information to entrepreneurs, but I don’t think that people realize how much we do in their interest with lobbying to the government. This is what Dennis (Dare) and I do. When I try to explain this to those who ask, there are doubts about whether or not this is effective. It’s difficult to prove that what we propose is being implemented. Lobbying is a diffuse process that takes patience and a diplomatic approach; it can take years before ideas proposed by the Chamber are implemented. An example is the “Ombuiging Fiscaal Regime.” This contains advice on tax reform that was prepared by the Chamber in 2001 with elements that were just recently implemented. An effective diplomatic approach sometimes requires others to advocate what you advise and hopefully celebrate the fruits of the labor together.

CBM: Where would you like to see Curaçao business in the next 5-10 years?
RK: I sincerely hope that decision-making takes a more rational direction and that the private sector should be more directed towards creative entrepreneurship, especially with those who do most of their business locally. I would like to see business be more open to creativity, with the ability to expand more.

CBM: What is your favorite resource?
To stay current in my field, I read a substantial part of my time. The reading varies from policy documents to technical background papers and local newspapers. To keep a broad view, I frequently visit websites that publicize opinions.
Some of my favorites are:
• krugman.blogs.nytimes.com;
• rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog;
• www.mejudice.nl.
For readers who are interested in international economic developments I recommend Project Syndicate. It’s a website with articles written by economists and politicians.

CBM: What do you do when you aren’t working?
RK: I’m a mountain biker – I don’t think many people know that. I bike four times a week and participate in the races regularly. When I’m not on my bike, I coach kids to be soccer goalies (keepers) at Willemstad.