The rest of CARICOM must realise Trinidad and Tobago is the driver for economic growth within the Eastern Caribbean.
Those who refuse to admit to that reality will run the risks of failing to develop.
That was the observation and advice of Dr DeLisle Worrell, senior economist with the International Monetary Fund as he delivered the Wendell McClean Memorial Lecture at the Frank Collymore Hall Thursday night.
?If we don?t recognise that we are part of that larger economic space, then we are never going to encounter realistic solutions to our economic policies.?
As for the ongoing fishing dispute between Barbados and Trinidad, the Barbadian economist regards it as an absurdity, and believes that instead of quibbling over what space belongs to whom, a strategy should be formulated to make the best use of the mutual resources.
?We should be together looking for ways in which we can cooperatively utilise the marine resources of our shared space, to the benefit of both the fishermen of Trinidad and Barbados,?
He added that the solution required an inclusive dialogue.
Similarly, if one looked at the financial sector and capital movements within the region, the purchase and sale of companies, the national spaces of the individual countries are too small to allow for the growth and development of vibrant competitive companies.
?If Sagicor is to maintain its leadership in its field, it has to continue to expand outside of Barbados. It has to go further afield. In the case of the national bank, somebody had to buy it. The only option is a regional company buys it, or it is going to be like Mount Gay and its going to be a foreign company that buys it,? said Worrell.
He stressed that the concept of nation space was bigger than Barbados, and had to be more inclusive and regional, so therefore there should be concern about the exchange of information and the performance of the Trinidadian economy should be noted, since the interdependence has been there for some time.
?When oil was discovered in Trinidad and the big military bases went there, Barbadians went there. We had a manufacturing industry, we sold it to Trinidad.?
The issue of losing national bank status was raised by businessman Trevor Clarke, a member of the audience, who took issue with the ownership of some of Barbados? banks going into Trinidadian hands, and also the ownership of several other businesses here.
Worrell?s reply was that Trinidadian banks were more powerful because of the size and richness of their economy.
?Those banks developed the resources to be able to expand and to acquire other institutions. If you compare Jamaica which decided they would own their own banks, what happened? There are now back in foreign ownership and the ones that remained domestic are in a rather parlous condition,? he said.
The IMF economist added that Trinidad was the only economy within the Caibbean Community which was generating economic activity from its own initiative, while the rest of the Eastern Caribbean was growing on the backs of foreigners, because the growth of these economies depended on the growth of the foreign exchange earning sectors.
?The foreign exchange earning sector in Barbados is owned by foreigners. The nationalisation of anything in Barbados, looks to me more likely to impede progress than to lead to further growth,? Worrell said.
Dr Worrell?s topic was Does The New Global Order Make CARICOM Central Banks Obsolete?
