Caribbean Investment Forum Magazine

Linked to the emphasis on the ‘new economy’, is the leveraging of technology in key sectors such as agr icul ture. The Caribbean is one of the most food insecure regions on the planet, and this has been more eloquently demonstrated by COVID-19. A new emphasis on agriculture is required. However, this time around, it has to be about us ing technology to take Car ibbean agriculture forward into the 21 st century where our young people also see it as a viable business opportunity. This is precisely why Caribbean Export, in partnership with the CAIPA has identi fi ed Agrotech or Agriculture Technology as a priority sector for us in the Region. It connects all the dots in helping us to become more food secure; treats agriculture as an entrepreneurial activity; and as one Region we can o ff er the scale required for larger investors. Secondly, we need to focus on investment that can help propel a new economy, driven by climate-friendly business and digitalization. The world is going green and embracing digitalization and so must we. Therefore, we need to make a concerted e ff ort to bring companies to our shores that are at the forefront of green technologies in areas such as solar and wind. This means an investment approach that is targeted and forensic in focus. We at Caribbean Export recognize that innovation is imperative for our survival and must be central to our regional investment promotion strategy. As a matter of fact, we have already engaged the services of an alternative fi nance adviser with experience in raising capital across emerging and frontier markets for entrepreneurs and SMEs with high growth potential.

We intend to fast-track support to the packaging and promotion of regional investment projects and focus on steering investment to sectors that are vital to what will be the new economy whether by focusing on Agrotech, digitalization or the climate-friendly investments. We are acutely conscious that the future of our Region and the prosperity of our people ride on the actions we take now for business to be a driver and central player in advancing a transformational agenda for our Region. At Caribbean Export, we intend to do just that, with the attraction of local and foreign investment being a central pillar of our work in the years ahead.

2022

26

SOURCES

3 https://unctad.org/system/ fi les/o ffi cial- document/diaeiainf2021d1_highlight_en.pdf

4 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/tourism- industry-covid19-recovery-government-response/