Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley being flanked by Adrian Meyer (left), Deputy Chairman of Cidel Bank and Trust Inc, and Ben Arrindell, Deputy Chairman of Cidel Bank and Trust Inc at the function on Monday night.
THE Government of Barbados is looking to fast forward economic growth having already stabilised the economy.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Investment, Mia Amor Mottley, announced this recently during an address to a 20th anniversary celebration of Cidel Bank and Trust at the Sandals Royal, Maxwell, Christ Church.
Mottley said that economic growth must come not only from tourism, but also from the country’s International Business and Financial Services (IBFS) sector. She noted that the task of the sector must include taking on the world.
“The world is our business and our business is the world,” the Prime Minister declared.
The PM also lauded Ronald Toppin, the Minister who has responsibility for that sector. Ms Mottley referred to the role he played in getting Government to pass 19 pieces of highly technical legislation in relation to the sector over a short period.
The Barbados economy declined 0.6 per cent last year and it is expected that growth will be flat in 2019, according to the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Cleviston Haynes, who also attended the function on Monday night.
Ms Mottley further stated that her administration will be injecting additional marketing resources into Invest Barbados, a Government promotion agency, to advance the sector.
She remarked that if people do not know about a product they won’t buy into it. She has reasoned that marketing in the sector has always been done not only by Government alone, but by the private sector working co-operatively with Government to spread the word.
She told the audience that the Government still has more work to do in improving Barbados since one is not able to reverse declines of over ten years in the space of a year. The Prime Minister added that the Government is committed to the restructuring of Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office that would among other things allow for faster company registration. She thanked those who created Cidel Bank and Trust in 1999 noting that the company is the forerunner to what currently exists in Barbados.