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Conceived in 2014 as part of the Central Bank of Barbados’ Distinguished Visiting Fellowship programme, the Caribbean Economic Forum tackles the many issues confronting the region, and offers its peoples the opportunity to hear from and pose their questions to leading thinkers in the field of economics, finance, and more.
In 2020, in response to the ongoing pandemic, the forum’s format was revamped, transforming it from a once-a-year event into a six-part series, “Caribbean Economic Forum: Beyond COVID”, that featured policymakers, technical experts, and people in the trenches.
Now the series returns with a new season and new guests as the region continues to tackle the issues and attempt to find solutions that will help it adjust to and thrive in the post-COVID era.
But before the first episode takes place on Thursday, April 1 at 8:00 p.m., take a look back at last year’s episodes.
In the first episode, which took place in June, four regional central bank governors – Cleviston Haynes (Central Bank of Barbados), Timothy Antoine (Eastern Caribbean Central Bank), Dr. Gobind Ganga (Bank of Guyana), and Richard Byles (Bank of Jamaica) – shared the stage for the first time to discuss how the pandemic had impacted their respective jurisdictions, and to explain how they had adjusted their monetary and economic policies to lighten the burden on the region’s people and keep their economies afloat.
In June, the Bank enlisted the expertise of Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Edmond Bartlett; Sue Springer, Director of Corporate and Government Relations at the Caribbean Council in the UK; Patricia Affonso-Dass, President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association; and Professor Clive Landis, Chair of the University of the West Indies’ COVID-19 task force to examine the many aspects of the topic.
July’s edition focused on the already changing nature of work, which was further shaken up by the pandemic and the resulting national shutdowns. Both these circumstances forced many businesses and their employees who had not previously done so to resort to remote work.
Given this disruption, a panel comprising Wayne Chen, President of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation; Dr. Rochelle Haynes, a UK-based Barbadian Human Resources Expert; and Dr. Carmen Pagés-Serra, the Chief of the Labour Markets Division of the InterAmerican Development Bank was invited to weigh in.
The discussion’s main takeaway was that in the new world of work the focus must be on productivity and outcomes rather than command and control, especially given the shift away from the traditional office setting.
The following month, four international economists with Caribbean connections – Dr. Peter Q Blair, a Bahamian-born Assistant Professor at Harvard University; Dr. Wendell Samuel, the Deputy Division Chief of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department (Dominica); Dr. Dillon Alleyne, Deputy Director of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Guyana); and Dr. Eric Strobl, a Professor of Environmental and Climate Economics at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who has done extensive work in the region – took part in a robust discussion about the future of Caribbean economies, which included calls for reforms to the region’s educational systems and for diversification away from tourism as the economic mainstay.
In October, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, the Honourable Paula Ingabire shared the remarkable story of her country’s digitisation experience, while the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Minister of Health, ICT, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, and Talent Development for St. Kitts and Nevis; and Rodney Taylor, then Director of the Data Processing Department in Barbados’ Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Smart Technology discussed the steps their islands have taken thus far on their respective journeys.
The 2020 finale, held in early December after a month off to accommodate the hosting of another of the Bank’s thought leadership initiatives, the Sir Winston Scott Memorial Lecture, brought it all together. “Repositioning Caribbean Economies: Lessons from 2020” featured two regional prime ministers – the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados and the Honourable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who is also the current Chairman of CARICOM – as well as Alejandro Werner, the Director of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department. The panellists emphasised that the pandemic had underscored how important regionalism and working together were to the Caribbean’s survival, and indicated that they must continue to champion and enforce regional integration.
Just as it did last year, the 2021 edition of the Caribbean Economic Forum series will explore an array of topics and feature respected and knowledgeable panellists from the region and beyond.
Log on to the Central Bank of Barbados’ Facebook page, YouTube channel, or website, or tune in to participating television stations in your country to watch this year’s first episode.