UWI and Trade Policy graduates have role to play

JUST as it did several years ago, the University of the West Indies (UWI) has to come up with a
new economic model to help Caribbean countries currently facing pressing economic issues.

To this end, the latest batch of Trade Policy graduates have been told there is a role for them in that process.

The suggestions have come from Professor
Dale Webber, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus.

He told those present at an awards function and dinner recently for this year’s Trade Policy graduates that the countries in the region are in a difficult position and that they need to be repositioned.

“We are in a very difficult situation and the UWI
is trying to revitalise Caribbean development because we know that all Caribbean countries are in an economic slump,” the UWI Professor said.

Saying that the UWI
has to create the next paradigm for these small states, Professor Webber recalled that back in the 1950s and the 1960s, it was the UWI that created the model that drove the growth in these countries.

He queried where the region is at this time and why it is not growing like before.

“We are stuck where we are, but you are the new centres,” he told the graduates, who attended the function at the Champers Restaurant and Wine Bar, Rockley, Christ Church.
Since the onset of the global economic meltdown and collapsing commodity prices, the Caribbean countries, with a few exceptions, have had sluggish economic growth.
They are also facing high debt, and have fiscal imbalances, forcing some to turn to the International Monetary Fund to assist with their recovery efforts.
The UWI official said that in repositioning the Caribbean there is a role for the Trade Policy graduates. “Our job is to help you step up to the next level. So go forward, go boldly and make the difference,” he remarked.

According to him, he is very impressed with the graduating class and he challenged the Shridath Ramphal Centre to undertake a programme to ascertain where the graduates are.

The Professor said that the difference between the UWI and the 60 or so other tertiary institutions operating in the region is graduate study and research. “You are the embodiment of that difference,” he added. (JB)