The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development will lead a six member contingent to the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) 48th Annual Meeting of its Board of Governors in Grenada from May 30 to 31. Trinidad and Tobago will be prominent on the agenda which focuses on a number of issues including the environment and climate change, building resilient cities, fighting inequality and poverty as well as air transport and the blue economy.
The contingent representing Trinidad and Tobago also includes Mrs. Joanne Deoraj, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Development; the Honourable Kelvin Charles, Chief Secretary, Tobago House of Assembly and Temporary Alternate Governor for Trinidad and Tobago on the Board of Governors of the CDB; Mrs. Suzette Taylor-Lee Chee, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Temporary Alternate Director for Trinidad and Tobago on the Board of Directors of the CDB; Mr. Bobby Andrews Planning Coordinator, Office of the Chief Secretary, Tobago House of Assembly and Mrs. Stacy Mohamed-Roopchand, Planning Officer II Ministry of Planning and Development.
Minister Robinson-Regis serves as Governor for Trinidad and Tobago on the Board of Governors of the CDB and the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Joanne Deoraj serves as the Director for Trinidad and Tobago.
Below is the statement from the Minister Robinson-Regis to the CDB Board of Governors
Salutations
- Chairman of the Board of Governors (BOG) - Dr. the Right Honourable Keith C. Mitchell, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Grenada;
- Honourable Prime Ministers;
- Distinguished Governors;
- President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Dr. William Warren Smith;
- Members of the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank;
- Vice Presidents and other members of staff of the Caribbean Development Bank;
- Distinguished Delegates, Observers, Representatives of the Media.
- Ladies and Gentlemen
Introduction
It is an honour to participate in the 48th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. I am most delighted to be in Grenada and on behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Government and the people of Grenada for their warm hospitality.
Indeed the theme for this year’s Annual Meeting “Resilience” is a most timely and relevant one, as countries in the region attempt to build resilience and transform our highly vulnerable economies towards a sustainable and inclusive growth path while ensuring alignment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
There are certain challenges and external vulnerabilities that we, as Small Island Developing States (SIDs), face and must overcome. Now more than ever, with the Caribbean region being at the forefront of the effects of climate change, do we need to work together and collaborate to shore up our resilience as it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ will these weather events affect us.
The year 2017 was without a doubt a very challenging year for most in the region. We saw the passage of two powerful and catastrophic – Category 5 hurricanes – Irma and Maria, which brought with them high social and economic costs, further hindering sustainable development in the affected countries. The costs of these weather events are extremely high and represent a high percentage of the impacted country’s GDP, in some cases exceeding the GDP of a country as seen with last year’s hurricanes. The events of last season serves as a wakeup call to all, that Climate Change is real and further highlights the vulnerabilities of the region and the urgent need to strengthen our resilience. The damages inflicted by both hurricanes are a stark reminder that climate change is indeed a threat to our very existence.
Building a region that is resilient to global economic shocks and environmental phenomenon amongst others is most critical at this juncture. This will enable us to effectively respond and adapt to changing circumstances and develop the skills and capacity necessary to deal with adversity and to withstand challenges.
Trinidad and Tobago’s National Development Strategy, Vision 2030 and its related themes are a clear indication of the priority of the Government towards building resilience not only through strong infrastructure and environmental sustainability but also through behaviour change, where citizens have a collective responsibility towards ensuring that we build on our strengths, exploit the opportunities and address the challenges that our country face. For us as a region, having efficient and resilient infrastructure enables global trade, powers businesses, connects workers to their jobs, creates new opportunities for struggling communities, and reduces the vulnerability of an unpredictable natural environment. Holistically, with the impending advances in technology, seeking investments which improve environmental and structural resilience could be targeted as strategic investments with potentially long lasting economic returns. Investment in infrastructure, with emphasis on transportation and public utilities built to internationally accepted standards, has the potential to impact positively on the level of national development and ultimately the well-being of citizens.
The IMF’s Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, stated in a 2017 publication, Unleashing Growth and Strengthening Resilience in the Caribbean that “a large public debt overhang, combined with high energy costs, violent crime, constrained access to credit, a high cost of doing business, and brain drain—to name just a few—have undermined regional growth prospects.” Trinidad and Tobago is no stranger to these challenges and these past two years have shown to be some of the most challenging in recent times. The region as a whole has fallen into a trap of high debt and low growth over the years which weighs heavily on the prospects for strong and sustainable growth. The question therefore remains, how can we overcome these challenges and raise the living standards of our citizens around the region? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this, but I believe that greater emphasis should be placed on a more regionally integrated approach to development through trade, the movement of people and economic co-operation in order to help us insulate ourselves from the external shocks that we have been vulnerable to in the past as no single country in the region can withstand these challenges alone based on past experiences.
The lack of diversification throughout the region points to a weakness in our resilience capacity and it exacerbates the effects of those external shocks such as the weather events or economic shocks that impact us. We need a committed and concerted effort by leadership and a joint effort by all segments of society in pursuing diversification as it is crucial towards ensuring more sustainable means of growth for our economies moving forward. Reliance building efforts ought not to be shouldered by regional governments alone, all segments of society have a role to play. Engaging and collaborating with the untapped potential of our large and vibrant Caribbean diaspora is one avenue that can be pursued. Tapping into the diaspora can help build our regional capabilities, increase market access and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as there are already existing links between those with Caribbean heritage abroad and their home countries which can be further expanded to benefit the region and create long-lasting links with the diaspora.
We can all agree that the cost associated with building for resilience is almost always beyond the human and financial resources of the countries affected. BMCs often find themselves perpetually in recovery and subsequent reconstruction mode. With the assistance of international partners and regional coordinating mechanisms, affected countries have been building resilience capacities to respond to disasters. One such important and most relevant regional coordinating body is the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). Unfortunately, even the CDEMA’s capacity and effectiveness when faced with disasters of great magnitude has been challenged. This underscores the importance of partnerships in building a more resilient region against the impact of disasters.
The CDB as a regional institution has a deep and long standing commitment to the development of its BMCs and is well poised to lead the efforts towards a resilient and prosperous Caribbean. Their expertise and experiences in improving the resilience of key sectors throughout the region such as water, agriculture and physical infrastructure will provide much needed support to Borrowing Member Countries (BMC’s). The CDB must therefore continue to strengthen and foster partnerships with private sector institutions, multilateral development organisations, and governments to leverage greater resources. The mobilisation of concessionary funding from global partners has proven beneficial and critical for affected BMC’s in the past year.
We must also improve our implementation capacity so as to strengthen our institutions and build resilience in our service delivery. This area is one in which the CDB has continuously helped in advancing the implementation capacity of the BMCs and that we hope to continue to benefit from.
In conclusion, Trinidad and Tobago looks forward to continuing its long and productive relationship with the CDB and reiterates our commitment to the growth and development of the Bank. We are grateful for the assistance that has been received from the Bank over the past year in terms of expertise and guidance and look forward to CDB playing a more prominent role in our country’s developmental thrust.
On behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation, I would like to once again express our sincere appreciation to the Government and people of Grenada for the friendship and generous hospitality extended to us and to congratulate the Management and Staff of CDB on the excellent arrangements made for the hosting of this Meeting.
I thank you.
BACKGROUND
The 2018 CDB Annual Meeting will embrace the theme “Resilience”. The theme is anchored in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the commitment by the Caribbean Development Bank's borrowing member countries (BMCs) along with other United Nations member countries to pursue 17 Sustainable Development Goals to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change by 2030. Trinidad and Tobago has already taken the lead with this with the Development of the National Development Strategy, Vision 2030, which is deeply rooted in the global Sustainable Development Goals and focuses on the areas highlighted by the CDB.
After a devastating 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season in the region, the Bank designed the Meeting to include a forum for discussing “Building Resilient Cities”. The seminar will provide a preview of the Bank’s Urban Sector Policy and discuss solutions to, and progress made in addressing the Region’s urban sector challenges. Trinidad and Tobago is well ahead of other States in the Region, as the Ministry of Planning and Development through the Town and Country Planning Division is currently working with stakeholders to develop a form based zoning code for Port of Spain, which has been initially approved.
This year’s CDB meeting will provide the perfect opportunity to present Trinidad and Tobago’s progress to the CDB and the borrowing member countries to share ideas and successes as well as to learn from areas where improvements are necessary