UK minister: ‘Make or break’ time for Caribbean
The next year will be a “make or break” time for the Caribbean economy, trade and development secretary Gareth Thomas has said as he visits Jamaica.
The comment follows the announcement of a £46 million package for the islands from the Department for International Development (DfID).
Mr Thomas used the announcement to issue a stern warning to the region that it had to move beyond its current import/export model.
“It has to find more innovative ways to trade beyond traditional exports such as bananas and sugar and look to exporting its talents and developing service sectors such as the insurance and telecoms markets in the region in order to keep moving forward,” he said.
New government research indicates violent and organised crime, HIV/Aids and the effect of climate change on the number of natural disaster are all major barriers to the economic success of many parts of the region.
Part of the trip involves finalising new trade agreements protecting trade structures with Europe, including a guarantee about the absence of export tariffs and quotas.
