Low cost diplomacy, high price gains (cont’d)

LUCAS STOCK INDEX The LSI recorded no gains in the third week of trading in September 2011. The stocks of Banks DIH (DIH), Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) and Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) traded during the period but all remained stable. As a result, the spread between the index and the risk-free Treasuries due to mature in December 2011 remains unchained.

Economic Ties

The prominence of China in the Caribbean is a reality that the world will have to contend with, but most certainly the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.  With three trade and investment initiatives under its belt, China could look forward to expanding further its economic ties with the Caribbean.  The Caribbean should certainly welcome investments from any quarter and develop trade ties with those countries that could help expand and improve standards of living.  That is the whole point of international trade and foreign investment.  The recently concluded economic and trade forum with China offers countries in the Caribbean one more way of pursuing those objectives.  As noted by the Prime Minister of host country Trinidad and Tobago, “China is emerging as a driver of the econo-mies of a number of developing countries…[and its] enhanced role in the Region as an economic partner offers significant potential for attracting substantial investment from Chinese businesses….”.

Rapidly

Not only does China welcome the opportunity to expand its reach into the Caribbean, it is solidifying its relations with developing countries in a way that matches the influence that it enjoys among them.  According to its own news agency, China plans to do that rapidly in