By JoEllen Laryea
BARBADOS / UAE – Hundreds of global investors looking to expand into the Caribbean region have attended the Caribbean Export Development Agency’s ‘Caribbean Investment Forum’ (CIF2022) held as a fringe event at Expo 2020 Dubai on March 22, 2022.
CIF2022, hosted in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies and the European Union, aims to demonstrate the strength and stability of the Caribbean region and attract much needed direct foreign investment following a challenging period of economic contraction because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The theme for the Dubai expo, which was delayed from 2020, is “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future”, and Caribbean Export, along with its partners, is committed to showcasing the full range of potential avenues for long-term investment and development in the region.
In his opening remarks to the forum’s attendees, Deodat Maharaj, executive director at the Caribbean Export Development Agency, highlighted the Caribbean’s buoyant prospects for future growth, with the United Nations reporting that the region’s economy is “poised to grow by 7.8 percent in 2022, with countries such as Guyana and The Bahamas leading the way”.
Caribbean Export recognises that foreign direct investment is needed to support the region’s development goals, create future-proof jobs, and ensure long-term economic success. Maharaj suggested that innovative projects in oil and gas, logistics and transportation, renewable energy, hotel and resort development and Agtech are just some of the ways financial investors and institutions can work with the region to reap mutual dividends.
Maharaj explained: “Our goal at the Caribbean Export Development Agency is to build the capacity of the region to attract foreign direct investment and position the Caribbean region as a preferred destination for investments.” He added: “We in the Caribbean can proudly say that in addition to our rich human resource base, proximity to a market of close to one billion people (due to various free trade agreements), and being a region on the move, that in this world of uncertainty and anxiety, we offer political stability where your investments are both protected and secured.”
