A high level conference on economic growth and development got under way at the Fort Young Hotel on Friday March 15 from 8:30 am.
Several stakeholders including members of the private and public sectors and civil society have gathered to talk about the key factors that have the greatest potential to increase growth in Dominica and the rest of the Caribbean.
The special meeting to sensitize the public on the Caribbean Growth Forum initiative is part of a two-year regional platform which will take into consideration the economic challenges facing small island states in the region.
Participants will discuss ways to strengthen the investment climate, upgrade education and develop skills, improve competitiveness and generate higher paying jobs.
They will also discuss key actions needed to improve logistics and connectivity especially by making key infrastructures more affordable and efficient including information technology, transportation and electricity.
Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Rosamund Edwards, has encouraged those invited to Friday’s forum to come and be part of this important meeting.
“It is an opportunity for the public to contribute to the identification of specific activities and actions that can be undertaken towards the implementation of a growth strategy. We encourage all the persons who have been invited to attend and to be open with their views and to contribute meaningfully to the discussion,” Edwards said.
A number of partners will attend the launching ceremony of the Caribbean Growth Conference in Dominica on Friday. Partners will include the Caribbean Development Bank, the European Union, the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
Edwards said the Government of Dominica has fully endorsed this growth initiative.
“The Government fully supports the initiative and expresses its gratitude to the development partners. Government’s growth strategy is outlined in the country’s Growth and Social Protection Strategy (GSPS) which has been approved by the Cabinet and tabled in the parliament, so that is expected to be a good platform for the discussions tomorrow,” she stated.
Fifteen Caribbean countries are said to participate in the first phase of the Caribbean Growth Forum initiative.
Upon completion, an action plan will be produced and will include concrete policy recommendations to be implemented by each country.
More forums? some action would certainly help alleviate some problems. Twop parlay –
talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk
What more is there to talk about? For decades we talking. Big expensive meetings all over the region with everyone dressed in their suits feeling so smart and important. Decades talking about the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over
ACTION! That is what we never take. Why? because that is where real brainpower is needed. Vision. Intelligence. Complete understanding of the big picture. We don’t have that.
So. talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk
Its a very good concept and aspect of Democratic principle that the citizens participate in their governance.
With that said,I hope the action plan will be made public so we the citizens can judge now our government has performed.
So many time forums like this are held and we dont know what were the recommendations and whether our government have neither accepted them nor implemented any of them.
I really hope that this is not going to be another talk shop. We are watching and waiting.
What Growth Forum! You mean Dominicans do not already know where the economy and society are haemorrhaging? Don’t we already know our collective and sectoral strengths and weaknesses? You mean to say we need a Forum of all stakeholders to know that the cost of electricity is shrinking the economy? We need the IBRD, CDB, ECCB, IADB and the EU to tell us that our attitude to work is regressive? Eh! Don’t we already know that the cost of local manufacturing is prohibitive and the lending institutions are concerned only with loans for consumption and not for trade? Do we need to spend all that money at Fort Young to remind ourselves that there are reports gathering dust on desks in the public service that already diagnosed the economy, prescribed remedies yet never implemented? Eh! Don’t we already know that the State is not interested in following and learning from the macro economic indices which tell us where we are headed but spend all their time handing out items to satisfy individual needs?
To my mind, this Growth Forum will amount to nothing more than a Forum to Talk and Talk.
Hope the overseas Dominicans aka Diasporans are invited and make their substantial contribution to this important forum.
This is a very good initiative and I hope we can find a partnership with private and public investments…which would serve kinda like a stimulus to the economy