Guyana is among eight Caribbean countries that are expected to submit the names of nominees to replace dismissed US citizen Mauricio Claver-Carone as president of the Inter-American Development Bank.
The other Caricom member countries that are members of the bank are the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Earlier this week, the bank informed its governors that the process to nominate candidates to be the next president was now open following Claver-Carone’s removal from office. The governors must signal their nominations within 45 days of being notified that they can proceed.
The change at the top in the IDB comes at a time when the Caribbean has a number of irons in the fire in terms of its relations with the bank.
A cursory glance at the respective support projects which Caribbean countries have with the IDB include those related to climate change, education, agriculture, private sector development, healthcare, agro-processing, tourism and technology. Accordingly, the region will be keen to remain abreast of developments in the IDB as they relate to any shift in the bank’s policy posture that might impact on the Caribbean.
Guyana has been a member of the IDB since 1977.
Back in July, even as the Caribbean was preoccupied with the role its agricultural sector could play in supporting its food security focus, the IDB released an attention-getting study advocating the transformation of Agribusiness in Latin America and the Caribbean. The study proffered an analysis of successful business strategies to access “international markets, including the incorporation of sustainability practices.” It also identified public sector areas of intervention to enable success in the agribusiness sector.
