ST. LUCIA – The first ever international development conference for local, regional and international investors was formally declared open at Gaiety on Rodney Bay Monday July 23 in St. Lucia.
The purpose of the conference is to secure the support of domestic stakeholders, donor agencies, financial institutions, private sector financiers and regional and international investors to participate in the investment opportunities that will be created from these initiatives.
The conference which will last for 3 days, represent the vision of Sir John Compton as outlined in the first Budget Address for the new administration on April 19 this year.
The conference emerges out of Sir John’s concerns about the growing phenomenon of increasing poverty in Saint Lucia over the past decade and the disparities in development between the northern part of Saint Lucia and other areas in the country. That much was addressed by Sir John in a letter addressed to participants at the conference in which he states: “I put forward the view that providing a level economic platform for all citizens of Saint Lucia to prosper is the principal means by which social inequity can be removed and feelings of social exclusion be dispelled.”
In his address to the conference, Acting Prime Minister Hon. Stephenson King pointed out that government’s vision is to create an inclusive society where equity and opportunity of access prevail.
“We must eliminate the disparity in development that currently exists between the northwest region of the country, including the capital city of Castries and the towns and communities in St. Lucia. We have to take a quantum leap if we are to move St. Lucia into an era of growth and impact positively on the living standards of all our people,” the minister said.
He warned that government is determined and committed to proving naysayers, who say that government will not be able to achieve these ambitious objectives, wrong.
Mr. King observed that the growth rates of 3-4% per annum, which have been realized in recent years, will not generate the level of resources required to allow the country to address some of the social and economic challenges with which it is confronted. Only significantly higher growth, he says, will enable the country to service and reduce the level of national debt that the government inherited and bring about a substantive reduction in the unacceptably high level of unemployment.
Among the specific presentations on the development projects on the drawing board for the country, are the redevelopment of Castries, including the redevelopment of Port Castries, the Southern Region Development Programme, including the development of Vieux-Fort and the development of a new cruise ship terminal and economic development programs in the north east, west and the central regions of the island.
Conference participants include a wide range of traditional donor agencies including representatives from the World Bank, the European Union [EU] and the Caribbean Development Bank [CDB] as well as major private regional and international investors such as Royal and Carnival Cruise Lines and international hotel chains. The conference ends on Wednesday July 25.
