By Dr. William Warren Smith, CD Errol Barrow Centre for the Creative Imagination
University of the West Indies
Cave Hill Campus
Barbados
Good evening:
Let me start by commending Prime Minister Motley for spearheading this very timely initiative.
Salutations
Good Morning All:
It is indeed a great pleasure to be with you today and tomorrow as we discuss this very important topic of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). We are particularly happy at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to support these discussions.
At this this point in time the CSME is critical for our Region.
We recently published a working paper entitled the Blueprint for the Caribbean Economy (it is available online). In this report we set out the challenges that the Caribbean face and we have categorised these challenges under:
The Hon. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, has made a call for regional governments to embrace the reforms that are needed to create a sustainable air transport sector in the Caribbean. The Prime Minister was speaking at a seminar on Air Transport Connectivity and Competitiveness, hosted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in Grenada.
Building resilient cities across the Caribbean will require a holistic approach. According to Timothy Antoine, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), any approach to strengthening the Region’s ability to withstand natural disasters will require countries to focus on restructuring fiscal policies and strengthening infrastructure, and to implement psychosocial interventions.
Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, has described the Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy as another step in the evolution of the development of human capital in the Region.
The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved USD750,000 in funding for a programme that will assist the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with strengthening intra-regional trade.
At least five countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia and Suriname – will benefit from three interventions to be implemented by the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ).
March 12, 2018, BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – On Friday March 3, 2018, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Haiti launched a project to improve climate resilience and disaster risk management on Ile-à-Vache, an island off the country’s southern peninsula.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) have signed a Framework Cooperation Agreement for the Bank to approve a grant of US$1.2 million for the FAO to implement a cassava project in Dominica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Titled: ‘Cassava Industry – Market Assessment and Technology Validation and Dissemination’, the project is to facilitate the testing of improved cassava varieties and production systems, and conduct market assessments.
February 15, 2018, ST.
President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Wm. Warren Smith, today announced that the institution is making USD700 to 800 million (mn) available to help Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) recover from the impact of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The funding, which the Bank is providing over the next five years, complements its ongoing work to build resilience in the Caribbean Region.