‘Framework needed to benefit from developments in sectors’

Developments in the electricity, water, and telecommunication/ICT sectors hold significant potential for unlocking new and substantial investments, facilitating innovation in the wider economy and contributing to increased and sustained economic growth.

 

“For these potentials to be realised, an enabling framework supported by appropriate policy, legislation and regulations must be in place to encourage investment and take advantage of the developments in the respective sectors,” said President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith.

 

Pointing out the key lessons that have emerged from the Caribbean’s experience with regulatory reforms of utilities, he also observed that the experience in this region shows that regulatory approaches adopted in larger countries may not work in the context of SIDS, owing to a number of constraints. He explained that such approaches, if adapted to the realities of these countries, may not yield the desired results.

 

Recognising the rapid developments in the sectors in question, Dr. Smith said that regulators will need to increase their role as advisors to governments, sharing their deeper appreciation of the developments in the regulated industries/sectors.

 

“Finally, to achieve energy security, we need to change the way in which electric utilities have traditionally been structured, so that the gener-ation function can be unbundled. This can facilitate greater investments by private power providers, in indigenous renewable sources of energy. The regulatory function must be designed in order to facilitate this transformation,” he added. (TL)