By: Staff Writer
November 11, 2022
Over 600 participants attended the inaugural Caribbean Investment Forum in Port of Spain, Trinidad this past week with every CARICOM country present with over 90 percent of the participants all from the private sector.
Deodat Maharaj, executive director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), in opening the ceremony said that along with members of the CARICOM community being present there was also representatives from the wider Latin America, Europe, Abu Dhabi, Asia and Canada and much more.
He also said: “what we have sought to do is to create that platform for business to the engage business to generate business, so it’s about less talk and more business. We also understand quite clearly, it is about creating jobs and opportunities for our people.”
The forum’s “key focus” will be on the main drivers that can advance the Caribbean transformation, said Mr Maharaj. He further warned, however, “If we remain at the periphery of the development debate, and if we continue to focus on the tangential issues, we cannot drive that Caribbean transformation.”
Mr Maharaj added: “That is why we at CEDA, we believe we need to advance a truly transformational agenda for the region and what we are doing, we are focusing on the sectors that we believe can achieve that.”
Absolutely sectors that deal with climate change vulnerabilities, agriculture and digitisation of the Caribbean economies are first and foremost for the forum and the region. If progress is made in any of these, the region can see success. “However, to build a truly resilient Caribbean business must be an essential partner playing not a peripheral or tangential rule, but a central rule,” he said.
The region needs to translate the challenges faced in the region to opportunities. Mr Maharaj pointed to the green economy and how the current system for providing energy causes macroeconomic instability. “It is well understood by many in the region that there is an undeniable relationship between our energy systems on the one hand, and macroeconomic stability and economic development on the other hand.
“A green economy transition presents the ideal opportunity to lessen pressure on foreign exchange, as well as limit the exposure to price volatility in the international energy markets as we see now. Equally important, the transition has the potential to spur economic growth by lowering the marginal cost of energy for the private sector, as well as lowering overall energy intensity.”
The private sector must play a part in this green economy growth because if done right it can create an additional 400,000 jobs for 100 percent return on investment for the Caribbean said Mr Maharaj as he pointed to the International Labour Organisation’s data.
He added: “according to the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), the region will require approximately $16.1B United States dollars in investment by 2014. Given these requirements, we need to mobilize the right partners, especially business who can help build and support the requisite infrastructure. This understanding is at the core of our rationale for a Caribbean investment forum. Because we know that such a transition will not only strengthen our resilience, but also… create jobs and opportunities for people, hence the need for investment in the sector.”
Pivoting towards digitisation of the region, the need to focus on integrating Caribbean firms with the global village is a key priority of the forum. “I’m also keen to just touch on the issue of digitalisation and innovation as drivers of Caribbean transformation via a partnership with business. To start with digitalisation is fundamental to the integration of all businesses into the global economy and indeed the regional economy,” he said.
The push to connect regional exporters with wider markets abroad is a challenge that must be met with increased avenues to drive technology to make it happen.