Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Carla Barnett said she was looking for ways in which the regional integration movement can work with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to build economic opportunities for CARICOM nationals.
Bennett visited the Barbados-based CDB last week for the first time since her appointment to the post in a return to familiar ground.
She previously served as country economist at CDB between 1989 to 1990 and vice-president of operations between 2012 to 2014.
During her visit to her former employers, Barnett met with CDB president, Dr Gene Leon, vice-president Yvette Lemonias-Seale, and their advisors.
During the meeting, they discussed further opportunities for collaboration between the two entities and ways to further their common goals of building economic opportunity and prosperity for the people of the Caribbean through deeper regional cooperation.
“CDB and CARICOM are certainly partners in progressing the Caribbean,” Leon said. “We share mutual goals of advancing the region through economic and social integration.
“The Secretary General, of course, understands both institutions incredibly well and we spent some time discussing the unique and promising synergies that we can bring to bear on tackling the region’s issues.
“It was a pleasure meeting with Dr Barnett, and I’m looking forward to us continuing and strengthening the partnership between our institutions.”
Barnett described the meeting between the hierarchy of the two regional institutions as “a fruitful one”.
“It was a pleasure visiting the bank and beginning a conversation with President Leon on how best our two organisations can work together to advance the development of the region,” she said.
“The skills and intellect available at all our regional institutions must be harnessed as we seek to build an economically and socially resilient Caribbean Community.”
The two regional institutions share a long-standing and productive partnership, formalised two years ago with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to deepen collaboration on projects and programmes which facilitate regional integration and expansion of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
(CMC)
CARICOM secretary general Dr Carla Bennett (left) and CDB president Dr Gene Leon during their meeting last week in Barbados.
