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President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mauricio Claver-Carone.

Refocus to reinvest

IDB meets with Governors of the Caribbean countries

The COVID-19 pandemic, especially when coupled with natural disasters which afflicted the Caribbean, have left many economies and societies reeling, says President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mauricio Claver-Carone.

 

However, he told Caribbean Governors that the economic and societal weaknesses that have been revealed during this period should convince them that now, more than ever, “we can recover – we can do so; we must do so with a refocus to reinvest”.

 

“The Caribbean needs new, more efficient, effective and resilient ways to take care of business. We need new spaces, new standards, new organising principles for our economies and institutions in order to really achieve the sustainable development gains that we all desire. We need better infrastructure, both analog and digital to make trade and industries more competitive, to attract new sources of investment and to generate quality jobs. We could really improve lives and livelihoods today through smart reforms and take advantage of the opportunities, and the impetus on the other side of the pandemic”.

 

Mr. Claver-Carone was at the time addressing the opening of the 10th Annual Meeting of Caribbean Governors, yesterday. High level Government officials from The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad &Tobago met virtually with the Bank’s Executive Leadership Team to discuss the region’s development priorities for the post-COVID era.

 

During the two-day meeting, Mr. Claver-Caron will present IDB’s vision in 2025 as a guide to reinvesting in the Americas, called “A Decade of Opportunities”.

“In short, our goal must be to emerge from this difficult period as a more competitive, more sustainable, more resilient region in which our people are empowered to live up to their true potential,” he stressed.

 

“It is going to take a lot of work and a lot of ambition on the part of our governments, societies, and right here on the part of IDB - I take it with great responsibility and I believe that we need to seize this moment.”

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