Executive Director for the Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank
Alternative Executive Director for the Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank
Ft. Lauderdale – Florida and the Caribbean share a special relationship where “we have each other’s backs” says Jerry Butler, the alternative executive director for the Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Pointing out that climate change affects both the Caribbean and Florida, Butler urged Floridians not to forget their cousins in the region who have been badly affected recently by Hurricane Matthew.
In fact, he said, there is evidence that the relationship is working well, disclosing that Florida is sending to the Bahamas next week 200 workers and 80 special trucks to assist with the restoration of electricity.
He said also that Florida and Floridians are also preparing to help Haiti where more than 900 lives were lost and catastrophic damage done to homes, infrastructure and agriculture.
Butler said that he will be part of an assessment team that will shortly visit Haiti to determine the immediate and medium term needs.
Butler’s remarks came as he delivered the keynote address at the formal opening of the Florida International Trade Conference and Expo (FITCE 2016) at Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale Convention Center on Wednesday, October 19.
He pointed out that the trade in goods, services and money between Florida and the Caribbean is key to the economic well being of both and noted that the problem currently facing the Caribbean with de-risking of its indigenous banks is also having a negative impact on doing business with Florida.
Butler, a native of the Bahamas, who also serves as the founding chairman of the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF), also pointed to meaningful collaboration between Florida and the Caribbean in developing their renewable energy resources.
He also reminded attendees at the opening ceremony of FITCE that the Caribbean contributes much of the required health care and education expertise and skills to Florida. “One of out of every two nurses trained in the Caribbean ends up in Florida and so too do many of our trained teachers,” Butler said.
This year, FITCE featured a special Caribbean Pavilion sponsored by JetBlue Airways with some 20 companies from the region including Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana having their products and services on display.
The 2nd annual Florida Conference on the Caribbean: The Diaspora Discussion also formed part of FITCE and among its sponsors were jetBlue, the Roraima Group of Companies, Demerara Distilleries Ltd., JTZ Publishing, Joy Agness Events Planning, Laparkan Shipping, the Highland Agency and doubletime digital imaging.
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