Barbados is playing catch-up in terms of putting in place measures to capitalize on the economic opportunities available in China, says Ambassador Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford.
The former Prime Minister, who became resident ambassador to China last year, said in an interview yesterday at the seminar entitled Engaging China that there were about six Caribbean countries – including Suriname, Grenada, Jamaica and Bahamas – that had embassies in China, while Barbados was the most recent to establish one in 2010.
“It is the length of time we take to do business . . . . to our detriment because we take too long to move on these matters.
“We now have to put resources into whatever we want to do; if it is tourism we have to redouble our efforts and not operate as though we are in a marathon when in fact people are sprinting.
“This is worldwide; they are all beating a path to China,” he said, noting that Barbados had started bilateral relations with China nearly 35 years ago.
Saying he was not aware of any Barbadian business investment in China so far, he said the possibilities were great while Barbados’ needs were comparatively small.
“There are other countries that have been working while Barbados was not present in the same way that others were present,” he said during a break in the seminar at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
In terms of the way forward, Sir Lloyd said Barbados had to “be an active country that clearly understands what it wants to achieve and we must all work together . . . by ‘we’ I’m talking about the public and private sectors in Barbados”.
Sir Lloyd said Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had clearly set out an agenda for cooperation between the two countries this year and the two countries were “well on the way to seeing that relationship being concretized”.
Meanwhile, outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Barbados Wei Qiang noted that over the past decade China’s economy had made significant advances, growing by 10.5 per cent annually with a GDP and trade volume rising from sixth and seventh place to second place in the world.
He added that since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, China had actively responded to domestic and external challenges, managing to maintain strong growth at home and adding momentum to economic recovery in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond while extending a helping hand to other developing countries. (RJ)
