Wealthy individuals and institutions in the Caribbean have been urged to invest in the region in the same way Rockefeller, Mellon, Morgan and Carnegie did in America.
According to Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM, Robert “Bobby” Morris, these men turned the American frontiers into areas of growth and development and a similar stimulus is now necessary for Caribbean economies.
Speaking last Tuesday during the inaugural National Services Week lecture and panel discussion at the Grande Salle of the Tom Adams Financial Centre, Morris lauded business magnate Sir Kyffin Simpson for his multimillion-dollar investment in a mega-farm in Guyana and urged others to follow suit.
He said large scale projects were necessary to boost trade in services within CARICOM.
“I’m not pessimistic but the idea that you’re going to drive the services sector by individuals leaving one country to become hairdressers in [another] is not going to drive CARICOM,” he said. This might only provide individual growth, the former trade unionist said.
Regional growth, Morris added, had to be led by major projects which would then create demand for services.
“This is what the new CARICOM is about.
When you have huge production, services will follow,” he said.
Morris said Sir Kyffin’s project would engage services “in almost all areas conceivable” including legal, engineering, financial, catering, road building and construction, marketing and biotechnology.
“I also believe that once that project becomes a success there will be a second project and a third project and that growth will be exponential.
“It will not be just growth in Guyana. It will be growth for all of us,” he said.
Morris suggested that the success or failure of the regional integration project should not be judged on isolated challenges without consideration being given to the success stories.
“When I think about the relationship between Jamaica and Barbados I think more in terms of Facey [Commodity] Ltd making headway by bringing capital and services to Barbados and being able to stimulate the Barbados economy in the way that it has,” he said.
He also saw Sagicor’s investment as beneficial to both countries.
“When I think of our relations with Trinidad and Tobago it’s not about a single incident of trade, it’s about the fact that Trinidadians have invested in several areas of the economy. While to the best of my knowledge there is no reciprocal success on our part . . . I have not been advised that we tried and we failed,” he said. (NB)
