CARIBBEAN GOVERNMENTS have a major role to play in helping their societies adapt to the vagaries of the world economy, said Bahamian Foreign Minister Frederick Mitchell.
Speaking this morning at a high level strategic dialogue on CARICOM – Vibrant Societies, Resilient Economies: A Partnership for Implementation at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, he identified the collapse of CLICO; the sentencing of financier Allen Stanford and the bankruptcy of the multi-billion dollar Baha Mar project as examples of the vulnerability of foreign investment-dependent societies.
“These kinds of shocks, in many cases, have resulted in the high indebtedness we face today. It is imperative for our political directors to be trained and adequately prepared for the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” he said.
Mitchell said the task of the gathered heads of Government was to reassure their societies they had the “intestinal fortitude” to rescue their territories, adding he was confident in their ability to do so. (CA)
