Infrastructural development and renewal in the Caribbean will be a catalyst for economic recovery and sustainable growth in the region, says CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank chief executive officer.
Rik Parkhill, who will end his tenure at the Barbados-based bank in six months, said tourism and energy are “ripe for unlocking and provide ready opportunities for some of those partnerships to take place”.
He was speaking last week at the bank’s third annual Infrastructural Conference at the Hyatt Ziva Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Parkhill said that “the tourism infrastructure in many territories – such as hotel plans, airports and cruise terminals – are in desperate need of renewal or rebuilding”.
He said too, that deteriorated road networks needed to be repaired or replaced.
Noting that the governments of many regional countries with their relatively fragile economies and stretched budgets cannot undertake major capital works projects alone, Parkhill emphasised the value of public private partnerships (PPPs).
He said that governments of the region “have seen the value of, and are more and more placing greater emphasis on, PPPs to finance national infrastructure development”.
He said that “with most of the economies of this region heading out of recession and showing signs of growth, this is an opportune time for PPPs to take deeper root in the financial landscape of the region”.
Parkhill also believed that “the economic potential of renewable energy – solar, wind, hydro and geothermal sources – remains largely untapped”.
