Last month the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) published a paper ‘Chinese rise in the Caribbean – What does it mean for Caribbean Stakeholders?’ Although, in its conclusions, it said little more than a number of Caribbean commentators have observed previously, it is important for three reasons.
Firstly, it disaggregates the Caribbean from the more usual approach whereby multilateral institutions write or speak about China in the context of the Americas, as if Latin America and the Caribbean were some coherent entity; secondly, the research-based study focuses on the economic benefits that might accrue from a more strategic approach; and thirdly, it encourages the region to be forward looking about what it wants out of its long-term relationship with Beijing.