Caribbean Growth Forum – Belize Meeting

The meeting will bring together key partners of the Caribbean Growth Forum from 14 Caribbean nations to take stock on key lessons learned and next steps for countries to renew their commitments to sustainable growth.

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AGENDA
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Nearly four years on, over 2,500 government, private sector, civil society leaders from 15 Caribbean countries have participated in this public private dialogue and are working together to spur growth in the region – implementing over 100 reforms to boost skills, productivity and the overall business climate.

The meeting will provide answers on how to create result based roadmaps to shape national reforms and help track the implementation of actions linked to these reforms.

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Click to read the communiqué

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AGENDA

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29

16:00-18:00 Registration

18:00-20:00 Cocktail reception

TUESDAY, MARCH 1

8:30-9:30 Final discussion and approval of the Communique launching Phase 2 of the CGF

Closed door session with Government Focal Points

9.30-10:30 Opening and reading of the Belize communique

Press event hosted by the Government of Belize with CGF participants

Opening Remarks and Declaration by Hon. Tracy Panton, Minister of State - Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade & Commerce, Government of Belize

Keynote by Hon. Winston DaCosta Jordan, Minister of Finance, Government of Guyana

Remarks by CGF Secretariat: Ms. Sophie Sirtaine, Country Director for the Caribbean, World Bank Group; Mr. Ian Durant, Deputy Director, Economics Department, Caribbean Development Bank President; Mr. Jose Manuel Ruiz on behalf of Ms. Cassandra Rogers, Country Representative Belize, Inter-American Development Bank

10:30-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-12:45 Reform Implementation: From the CGF Dashboards to Enhanced Roadmaps

Mr. Steve Utterwulghe, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank

12:45-14:00 Lunch, “Perspectives from the Civil Society”

14:00-15:30 Reform Implementation: From Planning to action – The Rapid Results Initiative

Ms. Hirut M’Cleod, Leadership Development Specialist, World Bank

15:30-16:30 Knowledge Dissemination and Creation

Ms. Cecile Niang, Program Leader, World Bank; Mr. Ian Durant, Deputy Director, Economics Department, Caribbean Development Bank; Mr. Jose Jorge Saavedra, Lead Operations Specialist, Caribbean Department, Interamerican Development Bank

A working coffee break will be offered during the session

16:30-17:30 CGF Communications Framework and Stakeholder Engagement

Ms. Christelle Chapoy, Senior Communications Officer, World Bank

17:30-17:45 Closing of Proceedings

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2

9:15-9:30 Welcome Remarks

Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development Workshop

9:30-10:00 Lessons learned from building healthy entrepreneurship ecosystems

Mr. Steven Koltai, Managing Director, Koltai&Co

10:00-10:45 Mapping priority reforms to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems in the Caribbean: Group exercise

Ms. Sophia Muradyan, Program Officer, World Bank

A working coffee break will be offered during the session

10:45-11:30 Mapping priority reforms to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems in the Caribbean: Presentation by each group & discussion

11:30-11:45 Discussion Summary and Wrap-up

11:45-12:00 Perspective on entrepreneurship development and innovation in the Caribbean

Ms. Cecile Fruman, Senior Director of Trade & Competitiveness, World Bank

12:00-12:15 Closing of Technical Meetings

12:30-17:30 Agribusiness field visit in the Cayo district

A packed lunch will be offered to participants

New Evidence on the Cyclicality of Fiscal Policy, F. G. Carneiro et al, World Bank Working Paper 7293, Washington D.C, 2015.

This paper presents new evidence on the patterns of cyclicality in the fiscal policy stance of developing and industrialized countries over a period of more than three decades covering 180 countries during 1980–2012.

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How to sustain export dynamism by reducing duality in the Dominican Republic: a World Bank trade competitiveness diagnostic, A. Iwulska et al, World Bank Group, Washington D.C. 2015.

This report analyzes export competitiveness in the Dominican Republic drawing from the Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic methodology (Farole and Reis, 2012).

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Measuring the determinants of backward linkages from FDI in developing economies: is it a matter of size?, M. Sanchez-Martin et al, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 7185, Washington D.C, 2015.

The main focus of the paper is the measurement of the potential for externalities related to foreign direct investment. A series of novel proxies are drawn from the Enterprise Survey database of the World Bank-IFC and tested against hypotheses considered in the foreign direct investment literature.

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Latin American entrepreneurs: many firms but little innovation, D. Lederman et al, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014.

Entrepreneurship is a fundamental driver of growth, development, and job creation. While Latin America and the Caribbean has a wealth of entrepreneurs, firms in the region, compared to those in other regions, are small in size and less likely to grow or innovate.

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OECS Ports: An Efficiency and Performance Assessment, D. Cubas et al, World Bank Policy Research Working Papers, January 2015.

Handling charges in Caribbean ports are two to three times higher than in similar ports in other regions of the world.

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Youth unemployment in the Caribbean. Caribbean knowledge series, M. Parra-Torrado, World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014

Global economic shocks coupled with natural disasters left most Caribbean countries with zero to negative growth and high unemployment rates.

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The Caribbean Diaspora: a source for venture investment?, Q. Dhanani and M.J. Lee, World Bank no. 6, Washington, 2013.

The Caribbean region is unique for many reasons. Perhaps most striking among these is the demographic fact that for every resident in the region there is an individual living in the diaspora abroad.

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Small States, Smart Solutions: Improving Connectivity and Increasing the Effectiveness of Public Services, E. Favaro, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008

Small states face special hurdles in achieving development gains. These geographic disadvantages are well recognized. What is new and different is that there are valuable experiences concerning the ways and means of overcoming these impediments in certain areas. That is the focus of this volume.

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Driving Tourism in the Eastern Caribbean: The Case for a Regional Ferry, J. Barbet-Gros et al, World Bank Group, Washington D.C, 2015

The impact of the global 2008 crisis on the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) economies was significant and has lingered on until today. The main priority of OECS governments is to enable a resumption in growth in a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient manner. As an important source of employment and a key economic pillar, tourism plays a significant role in resuming growth in the region.

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Caribbean Development Bank Study: Making Air Transport Work Better for the Caribbean

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has commissioned an independent study that details the need for a complete rethink of the modus operandi of the regional airline industry.

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CDB Study: The Youth are the Future: The Imperative of Youth Employment for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

The motivation for the study is based on the high levels of youth unemployment observed in the Region and the consequences this has for youth and wider socio-economic development.

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CDB Study- Public Private Partnerships: Building on Early Lessons

Good quality infrastructure is a prerequisite for economic growth. Infrastructure stocks in the Caribbean are not adequate for much of the Region’s population. Many of the Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) are struggling to improve their infrastructure services — against the challenges of high debt burdens, tight budgets, declining investment and lagging economies.

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CDB Study- New Paradigm for Caribbean Development: Transitioning to a Green Economy

The main objective of the study is to augment the regional and international dialogue on the Green Economy in the context of inclusive and sustainable development. The study contributes to knowledge about and understanding of the fundamental requirements for transitioning to a Green Economy in the Caribbean and the attendant implications for policy and institutional arrangements.

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CDB Seminar Booklet- Public Debt in the Caribbean: An Agenda for Reduction and Sustainability

The publication undertakes a comprehensive look at the debt issues in the Caribbean, including the root causes of rapid debt accumulation. It also takes a fairly in-depth look at some of the institutional characteristics of debt management and presents some insights.

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IDB Is There a Caribbean Sclerosis? Stagnating Economic Growth in the Caribbean Abstract:

Does size matter for economic growth and volatility? To what degree has Caribbean economic growth been inferior to that of ROSE? What could account for the Caribbean growth gap and what economic policies might decision-makers adopt to promote higher and sustainable growth? The answers to these questions will support the overarching hypothesis that the Caribbean suffers sclerosis.

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IDB Debt, fiscal adjustment, and economic growth in Jamaica

The buildup of debt in Jamaica has been concurrent with the country's slow economic growth, and the issues are intertwined. Jamaica committed itself to a strict fiscal consolidation program to reduce its debt burden but success will depend on the country's ability to break away from a history of low economic growth.

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IDB Caribbean Economic Alchemy: Has Magic Returned to Bauxite

After a long period of stagnating prices, the global bauxite market is experiencing changes which are expected to drive prices higher. This Policy Brief provides an overview of the aforementioned changes in market conditions and proposes a new approach to organizing bauxite mining for the Caribbean bauxite exporters.

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IDB How much Anti-Money Laundering Effort Is Enough? The Jamaican Experience

The worldwide fight against money laundering (AML) is escalating. However, recent experiences have shown that fulfilling the AML standards, albeit necessary, is not sufficient to persuade financial institutions to keep international financial relations

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IDB Going for Growth: Pilot Benchmarking in the Caribbean

Sustainable economic growth has reemerged as a subject of Caribbean policy discussions however, most policy discussions still focus on the region's fiscal and macroeconomic constraints instead of on the analysis of underlying productivity drivers.

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IDB The Fear Factor: A Back-Of-The-Envelope Calculation on the Economic Risk of an Ebola Scare in the Caribbean

This brief presents simulations of an Ebola scare in the Caribbean, including three highly tourism-dependent economies, The Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica.

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IDB Mothers Are Right: Eat Your Vegetables And Keep Away From The Girls (Boys): Bullying Victimization Profile in the Caribbean

About 29 percent of teenagers are bullied at school in the Caribbean. Growing international evidence has shown that school-based programs can reduce the prevalence of bullying and that bullying has long-term negative consequences into adult life

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IDB Unemployment and Growth: Does Okun's Law Apply to Trinidad and Tobago?

Are output changes and the unemployment rate related in Trinidad and Tobago?

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IDB To Cut or Not To Cut: Does the Caribbean Follow the Advice of Multilaterals?

This policy brief defines the challenges of conducting appropriate fiscal policy over the past 20 years in four Caribbean countries (The Bahamas, Barbados, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago) and reviews international financial institutions' technical assistance and advice on tax and expenditures policies.

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República Dominicana: En Los Mina se hace la luz
La electricidad tiene un gran poder transformador. Especialmente cuando la falta de energía impide que miles de personas puedan llevar una vida normal, e incluso trabajar para cubrir sus necesidades básicas. Con la rehabilitación de más de 350 km de redes eléctricas y la modernización en la prestación del servicio, las autoridades dominicanas intentan comenzar a resolver las muchas dificultades que genera entre sus pobladores la falta de un suministro confiable.
Young entrepreneurs are the future of Jamaica
With its young, creative and English-speaking population, Jamaica is making its mark on the entrepreneurial stage, especially within the digital sector. Its talented youth are already catching the eye of international investors.
Regional integration to boost exports in the Caribbean
Exports account for 1/3 of jobs in the Caribbean and trade openness represents 90% of regional GDP. As the traditional buyers fade and new global poles grow, could better regional integration put the Caribbean back on the trade map?
High tech herbal teas with a Caribbean flavour
Faced with losing their crops through contamination, the farmers of South Manchester, Jamaica came up with a high-tech, off-grid and carbon-free solution to get their herbs on supermarket shelves at home and further afield.
Technology offers Caribbean youths a brighter future
Technology could place the Caribbean's youth on a level playing field and kickstart the region's stalling economies. A prodigious talent and a depth of ideas reside in the Caribbean. Digital Jam 3.0 brought together the private and public sector to harness this intellectual talent and turn it into a powerful catalyst to kick start the region's stalling economies

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República Dominicana: En Los Mina se hace la luz

Young entrepreneurs are the future of Jamaica

Regional integration to boost exports in the Caribbean

High tech herbal teas with a Caribbean flavour

Technology offers Caribbean youths a brighter future

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Caribbean: Regional integration to boost exports

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República Dominicana: En Los Mina se hace la luz

Young entrepreneurs are the future of Jamaica

Regional integration to boost exports in the Caribbean

High tech herbal teas with a Caribbean flavour

Technology offers Caribbean youths a brighter future

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Caribbean: Regional integration to boost exports

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