Dominica attends Regional Caribbean Growth Forum

Representatives from the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC) and the Dominica Manufacturers Association attended the Third Regional Caribbean Growth Forum at Pigeon Island in St. Lucia on June 16 and 17.

The Caribbean Growth Forum is meant to open a facilitated public-private dialogue about issues that are central to private sector development and growth in the region. The forum brings an innovative approach to creating sustainable and inclusive growth, one of the  biggest tasks currently facing the area. The goal of the forum is to organize an action-oriented dialogue about important policy reforms that are needed.

This year's forum included regional representation from Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, and Suriname.

A number of government ministers and their economic advisers attended the event, including  Gloria Joseph, Dominica's permanent secretary in the Ministry for Planning, Economic Development and Investment.  Representatives from Dominica's Reform Unit and the Ministry of Finance also were in attendance.

Guests from the civil society, academia and the private sector played a critical role in this year's event, having been given the task of  formulating original input in each of their countries at the onset of the forum in 2012 and monitoring the implementation of the development of the policy reforms in each of their respective islands.