Opportunities abound for Barbados via trade and investment agreements

There are quite a few trade agreements that Barbados has signed on to, that can lend itself to more opportunities in trade, as well as more professionals in the areas of commercial and trade law coming to the fore.

In fact, the Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, believes that having such experts in this island would be beneficial in helping clients who have run into trouble as a result of these agreements.

“In respect of trade matters, you must note the number of trade and investment agreements to which Barbados is party to. These create opportunities, not just for us to do more trade, but also for us to develop a cadre of experts on commercial and trade law, who would greatly assist local, regional and international clients, who seek to take advantage of or to settle disputes which may arise from such agreements.”

Unfortunately, there is a lack of experts in several of these areas, Inniss contemplated, as he addressed commercial lawyers yesterday at the 15th Annual Caribbean Commercial Law Workshop at the Hilton Hotel.

He stated that persons are worried about Brexit when they should be concerned about the shortage of legal experts who can advise the Caribbean on the legal ramifications of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), as it relates to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

“I am concerned that we are not truly feeling the presence of our legal scholars in many of these areas. I see a huge market potential there. We worry about Brexit in a general sense; I worry about a lack of trade and commercial law experts in the region, who will advise Governments on legal implications of Brexit in relation to EPA, or better yet, who will sit quickly and help us look at opportunities for the region in a new European Union market.”

Likewise, Barbadians are placing too much emphasis on the decision by the Republican Party’s Presidential Nominee, Donald Trump, to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, when they should be more focused on how they as commercial lawyers can learn Spanish, so that Barbados can tap into the wonderful opportunities that are available here.

Reminding those in attendance that he recently led a delegation of professionals and service providers to Mexico City and Columbia, he stated that there are many opportunities for Barbados in those places, but they need the assistance of the commercial lawyers to help them to comprehend these markets and find niches that would help them to advance in this direction.

“People here worry about Donald Trump building an imaginary wall to keep out Latinos; I worry about the lack of lawyers in Barbados who speak Spanish and are prepared to understand more about the legal system in Latin America, as we forge deeper relations with places like Mexico and Colombia.”

Inniss further stated, rather than be frustrated by the opinions that the Americans and British have in relation to the Russians and Chinese, Barbadian commercial lawyers should be placing more emphasis on how they can engage these two countries in enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities for this island.

“Whilst some of you worry about the American and the British view of the Russians and the Chinese, I want us to plan to be more engaging with those countries that are steadfastly helping to form the new world order, and may create more business opportunities for Barbados.”