It should not take a crisis before the Caribbean can see the level of cooperation as witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the lament of Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who was a panellist on the televised sixth Caribbean Economic Forum, hosted by the Central Bank of Barbados on Tuesday night.
Mottley said it was concerning that the region, which is linked together by organisations such as CARICOM, opts not to be more proactive in planning for exogenous shocks, such as the current crisis that has resulted in double-digit declines in tourism-dependent economies.
“This has been an extraordinarily difficult year for the region but, by the same token, we have seen the region excel in some clear areas. It is regrettable that we tend to do it when there is a crisis upon us rather than consistently planning and working forward in a coherent way,” she said.
“I think we can all agree that the manner in which there has been cooperation with regards to how we have managed COVID-19 has been a credit to our region.” (CLM)
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