PM Skerrit calls for shift to more diversified economies in ‘commodity dependent’ states

Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit has issued a call for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to consider a complete structural transformation to more diversified economies, which are no longer commodity dependent.

The Prime Minister participated in a virtual Round Table Discussion of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 on the topic: ‘Strengthening Resilience in Commodity Dependent Countries.’

Mr. Skerrit highlighted the challenges faced by small states, attributable to disaster impacts and external shocks that constrain growth and set back the pace of development.

“In transitioning to countries that are more resilient to both climate related impacts and economic shocks, we must consider not only the imperative of institutionalizing resilience and building infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters, but also a complete structural transformation to more diversified economies, that are no longer commodity dependent,” he said.

The Prime Minister told the forum Dominica, in building resilience, has created the Climate Resilience Agency for Dominica (CREAD), which leads and coordinates strategic initiatives across sectors and developed the Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan to 2030 (CRRP), which promotes the development of a robust economy sufficiently diversified to better withstand adverse events.

He said the Dominica Government had also invested in Information Technology and Digitization to support telework, e-commerce platforms and financial services and was in the process of retooling citizens for the gig economy. The island, he said, was also focused on increasing the use of renewable energy in the provision of cheaper electricity through the responsible exploitation of the country’s vast geothermal resource.

“Generation of clean power is expected to create new green jobs, increase productivity and income, and enable overall growth, resulting from greater efficiency in manufacturing and industry,” Prime Minister Skerrit noted.

The UNCTAD Round Table Discussion explored issues related to food security and smart agriculture, adequate access to clean water for sanitation and hygiene and the growing demand for affordable energy worldwide.

“Resilience may lie in strengthening agro-biodiversity and agriculture production systems against natural hazards and climate change impacts, for more productive and sustainable agriculture,” the Prime Minister recommended. “Also, facilitating the development and enhancement of agribusinesses and value chains through technology, financial innovation, productivity improvements, diversification, and entrepreneurship.”

To address the scarcity of water, the Dominican leader proposed the construction of hydraulic structures to regulate supply and convey water to community reservoirs and homes, treatment of wastewater, desalination and demand management to increase efficiency, modernize water systems and improve water security.

The round table discussion came ahead of the fifteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD 15, which will be hosted by Barbados from October 3-7, 2021 under the theme, ‘From Inequality and Vulnerability to Prosperity for All.

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19 Comments

  1. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    September 21, 2021

    What is commodity dependency?

    Commodity dependence is typically measured by the share of export earnings of the top single commodity; or top three export commodities in GDP, in total merchandise exports, and in total agriculture exports; and the percentage of people engaged in commodity production; or the share in government revenue.

    I suspect some may have written Roosevelt total speech, but I am sure he is not aware of what he is reading; so once again this man intelligence is suspect, and is called into question.
    How long shall we be the joke of the Caribbean?

    How can the most undeveloped nation in the Caribbean with nothing to export, where the majority of the people are unemployed with no prospect of employment, because there are no job opportunities, advise other more developed and prosperous nations what to do about their economies, when Dominica only industry is the sale of our nation passports?

    Do something about Dominica failed economy, then babble!

  2. Geo farmer
    September 20, 2021

    Wishful thinking. The UN, which belongs to Europe and the U.S has already relegated us to non-industrial non-participation in this continued industrial revolution including agricultural using, yes you guessed it, the WTO. It’s a done deal until the rest of the world find a way to go passed this and stand up to them.

    • RandyX
      September 22, 2021

      Skerrit supporters will always find cheap excuses… Wake up, it’s YOUR PM that is responsible for all Dominica’s problems. No need to look anywhere else! Nobody of those organisations or any developed nation has any interest in holding down a tiny island in the Caribbean. Quite the opposite, they give aid, they give cheap loans…. alas all of it disappears in that magic and insatiable black hole which was created by nobody else but YOUR PM. For crying out loud, open all your eyes and ears and dispose of this red tint!

      • Geo farmer
        September 23, 2021

        First of all I don’t support skeritt and I don’t support your beloved UN aid giving and receiving as it’s all smoke and mirrors designed to prevent you from noticing what’s actually happening. You may need to win the guy at the next polls and see what happens whether it’s him or Linton at the helm and we’ll see who has a need to wake up. They both are place-holders that need to wake up .

    • Afflicted
      September 22, 2021

      True say Farmer, sound like you in low a thing or two.

  3. Viewsexpressed
    September 19, 2021

    We have been hearing about “This and That” from Skerrit, but takes us nowhere. This PM is Visionless, lacks knowledge of Socio-Economic Concept and the obvious build up of our Agricultural Sector, be it that:- 1. Bananas🍌, Limes, Grapefruit and other agricultural Produce needed by some of our sister islands.
    Our Country, Our Government and Our People are desperately in need to move out of this Failed on-going Pappyshow Red Bobolistic LABOUR CLINIC GOVERNMENT.
    We need to GROW our Agriculture, Farmers, Families and People to retain our well DESIGNED Agricultural Sector and its based
    We need visionary Mature Experienced Leadership and committed supporters to raise the profile of our Farmers, Agricultural Sector and Active Based Agricultural Businesses with our Farmers and the Well designed Agricultural Sector, Including our dedicated Hucksters and Hard working Farmers.
    Blessings. Good Luck 🤞 All.

  4. Michael
    September 18, 2021

    What has he been doing to diversify Dominica’s economy in the last 16 years?

  5. Ibo France
    September 18, 2021

    Were the members of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) high on some sort of minding altering substance when they chose Roosevelt Skerrit to be leader and prime minister?

    Just listen to this man expounds on any matter. The man is a profoundly imbecilic and supremely ineligible for the post he presently holds. Give him the Amazon forest to manage and in a relatively short time the forest would completely disappear.

    He (Mr. Skerrit) is the cardinal reason why Dominica is so underdeveloped and living on island is a hellish nightmare. Inexplicably, the news media and stenographers here, masquerading as journalists, give him a pass. Insanely unbelievable.

  6. Ibo France
    September 18, 2021

    According to Jamaicans, you have to dance a yard before you could dance aboard. Here, I find in astonishingly perplexing ,that this man, who has presided over the worst economy in the English-speaking Caribbean for near two decades, giving his CARICOM colleagues advice of economic matters. Laughable indeed!

    Let’s put Skerrit’s economic performance under the microscope since taking up residence in the office of the prime minister as Minister of Finance.

    The once white hot agriculture industry is dead cold; manufacturing effusively bleeding jobs; service industry out of service; unemployment growing in leaps and bounds; middle class totally devastated; poverty exploding exponentially. Is this the right person to be given his counterparts advice on an area he has spectacularly failed?

    As usual, Mr. Skerrit is looking to grab headlines. Some people talk not because they have something to say but they have to say something.

  7. Viewsexpressed
    September 18, 2021

    After All these years in our Government, This man Skerrit is a BIG JOKER 🃏 you know.
    Can you imagine this? Skerrit, after this long failed years as The Obvious PRIME MINISTER he now talks of this: “Shift to more diversified economies in commodity dependent States.
    Well, where has Skerrit been in all these years as Prime Minister. The only concept this man has achieved is this “Fanfare RED CLINIC” and has poor struggling Dominicans Shouting all long that ” WE LOVE OUR PM WI”. What hypocritcal Joker. This Government professionals must stand Up and Out to guide this Immaturity to the Concept and Implementation of be Socio- Economic Framework Development. We are Fedup of this Blind Loyalty Fanfare taking advantage of our poor Unemployed people. Our people need jobs to feed their children and families and not have them shouting out fake loyalty saying, “We Love Our PM WI”,while Our people are suffering to survive to take care and feed their children. What happen to our passports…

  8. Viewsexpressed
    September 18, 2021

    To be honest, I’m convinced that we the people of Dominica just DO NOT take in, nor listen to the words nor thoughts of this Skerrit.
    Our Nature Isle needs an overhaul and a well astute, committed, highly professional visionary people with sound professional & obvious developmental capabilities in well experienced developed concepts of Socio-Economic Development.
    This devious “RED BOBOL CLINIC’ ” is a fake and a distraction to keep this Immature Visionless Failed LABOUR PRIME MINISTER to be in leadership as OUR Prime Minister of our ongoing struggling Nature Island.
    One drives around the villages, town and Capital City and see we are YEARS behind in development. The distraction our people get offered is through this Devious RED CLINIC, with political hand-out from this PRIME MINISTER’s Office. This is shameful. Our People, our Ailing Dominica needs visionary leadership to build up the Socio-Economic Development of our people and our Dominica. Skerrit has Overstayed his…

  9. Original
    September 18, 2021

    This concept of, “Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to consider a complete structural transformation to more diversified economies, which are no longer commodity dependent.” Is quite conflicting as the greatest resource, human resource is physical, generation of electricity and agriculture, even the internet of things require servers which are physical making all this commodities. I believe this concept is flawed and that in resilience we should be concerned more at our ability to recuperate from the external shocks which we have absolutely no control over such as hurricane, earthquakes, economic crisis. How are we developing sectors which could assist each other and integrate as satellites in a sustainable manner? The solution has been developed over centuries of proven work, this half witted idea has proven over 15 years that it’s incapable of delivering its stated benefits. Dominica has the weakest and poorest performing economy in the oecs which is a result of skerrit…

  10. The pappy show
    September 17, 2021

    Skerrit might be the elected Prime Minister but definitely Dominica is being led by communist China. That’s why all Skerrit can do is make calls but his calls are falling no where. He needs to examine himself to see if he is a leader or are pappy show. To me he behaving more like the later.

  11. Roger Burnett
    September 17, 2021

    My idea of “a complete structural transformation to more diversified economies” has nothing to do with multi-million dollar schemes that are reliant on foreign investment and labour force, but it has everything to do with the skills that enable individual self-sufficiency.

    Today, in my workshop, I have been machining a set of gears – unobtainable elsewhere in the world – to and accuracy of 1/1000″. Yesterday, I put the finishing touches to a “Caribbean Style” rocking chair made from Dominica hardwoods and tomorrow, I will be sewing for myself a new pair of shorts.

    You might add that the food on our table is 90% home-grown.

  12. Jonathan Y St Jean
    September 17, 2021

    I’m wondering why did El Supremo allowed the youthful manufacturing sector in Dominca to fold so miserably? He allowed the agricultural sector to run on fumes compared to the decade prior to his ascendance to be prime minister. Now he comes with some pie-in-the-sky diarrhea about the exploitation of the geothermal energy will lead to more efficiency in manufacturing. Where is the manufacturing he’s speaking about? He killed it. . I’m surprised he didn’t talk about the international airport in his gibberish address. A lot of empty fancy words with few details and specifics. Countries will do best when they invest in things in which they have a comparative advantage. With a small land area and small population and challenging topography the challenges are great and Skerritt lacks forward vision. Food security and smart agriculture can help Dominca exploit our natural resources. We need leadership which won’t kill existing agriculture and manufacturing.

  13. Frank N Stein
    September 17, 2021

    :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Look jokes we

  14. Channel 1
    September 17, 2021

    :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: …………………… but who Skerrit think he fooling with his vacuous utterances nuh.

  15. Ibo France
    September 17, 2021

    Mr. Skerrit goes to these regional talkshops with a prepared script written by one of his speech writers. The man is so intellectually challenged that even to say ‘Thank you’ at a simple ceremony, he has to read from a script.

    Even at primary school I learnt not to put all your eggs in one basket. He has proposed nothing new. This has been said ad nauseam.

    Before addressing the diversification of the economies of member countries of CARICOM , CORRUPTION MUST be addressed first and foremost.

    If Dominica becomes the most diversified economy in the Caribbean but the resources of the state go to 1% of the people and 99% of the population is left to suck salt, what good is diversivication?

    Most of these countries are being hit with a Double Whammy – CORRUPTION and DICTATORSHIP. The future of Caribbean looks more precarious an uncertain than at any other time before.

  16. %
    September 17, 2021

    The other panelist must have labelled Skerrit as a fool, and a square peg in a round hole.. Skerrit a passport is a commodity, and Dominica is far from diversified, since we depend almost entirely on passport sales.It’s clear that Hartley Henry no longer write speeches for you, so your idiocy is brought to the front burner everytime you are amongst those who are brighter than you. It shows on your counternance. You are a bad example to talk on diversification, since we are a mono commodity (passport) economy. Geothermal is a failure. Millions have been spent, and we can’t light a flashlight bulb, while electricity prices are galloping high.We have no smart agriculture,and our water recources are either wasted or polluted, all under your leadership.
    You must have been embarrassed sitting among those people, who obviously know that you are not honest in your delivery.
    You are supervising a country that is rapidly tanking, even those you fool every election cycle are now realising…

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