(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen Greater Georgetown, Guyana) This is the view of CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin La Rocque, in his Remarks to the Thirty-Sixth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, which opened today, July 2, in Barbados.
Ambassador LaRocque noted that “private sector investment and entrepreneurship” were key elements for a sustained growth path as well as to combat the stubbornly high unemployment rate.
“The entrepreneurial spirit of innovation, creativity and risk-taking is essential to succeed in an ever changing and increasingly competitive global marketplace”, he said.
Recognising youth as being in the frontline of such creativity; “showing the way towards a viable and prosperous society built on a regional foundation”, Ambassador LaRocque singled out for special mention: Warren Cassell Jr. of Montserrat and Nolana Lynch of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Secretary General shared that the sixteen year old Cassell who started a business at age eight from his small regional base, is using his skills at technology to provide services across the Region and further afield; while Lynch, who started her company five years ago at the age of 22, is an international supplier and is using her profits from her sales to fund sustainable development projects throughout the Community.
“These are but two examples of what the future of our Caribbean Community can be…, creativity and innovation are alive and well in our Community and will help us to compete and succeed in this demanding and dynamic world”, the Secretary-General stated.
Continuing, the Secretary-General opined that the youth entrepreneurs’ belief and confidence in their abilities and commitment to the Region, engendered optimism in the future.
“They are demonstrating that the sustainable development of the Caribbean Community can be achieved with the marriage of our human and natural resources to our innate skills, innovative ideas and hard work…. Unleashing the dynamism and creativity which have been the hallmark of our Region and using that distinctive Caribbean vibrancy to build our society on our own terms will put us on the path to create the resilience we need” , he emphasised.
Making the link to human resource development, in what could be described as a brief score-card on aspects of the Community’s progress, the Secretary-General informed that a review of the education and human resource development systems is well underway as the Community sought to ensure that its people were equipped with 21st Century competencies, to enhance competitiveness and sustainability. He also informed that proposals were being put forward to stimulate growth in our economies to overcome the debt burden; and that work towards establishing guidelines for a regime on fiscal rules to promote fiscal responsibility, was progressing.
The Thirty-Sixth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government is taking place under the theme Vibrant Societies Resilient Economies. It is being held during the first year of the implementation of the five-year Community Strategic Plan which has identified eight integrated Strategic Priorities and key areas of interventions: Building Economic Resilience; Social Resilience; Environmental Resilience; Technological Resilience; Strengthening the CARICOM Identity and Spirit of Community; Strengthening Community Governance along with Coordinated Foreign Policy, Research and Development and Innovation.
The Conference of Heads of Government is the highest decision making forum of the Caribbean Community which was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas on 4 July 1973.
