David Jessop

A few days ago the London Financial Times carried an interesting commentary on the growing problem that financial institutions in smaller nations such as those in the Caribbean are having in establishing or maintaining a relationship with correspondent banks in North America, Europe or other parts of the developed world.

Earlier this year, Owen Arthur, the former Prime Minister of Barbados, described the malaise that now affects much of the anglophone Caribbean.

After years idling in the doldrums, visitor arrivals to some parts of the region are increasing rapidly, travellers are spending more, and the yield for hoteliers is improving.

Across the Caribbean there is a pervasive view that the anglophone part of the region needs to find a new pathway to development, and a fresh narrative about its future.

Since 1991 international demand for chocolate has been growing, causing cocoa prices to surge.

On May 7 the people of the United Kingdom will vote in a general election.

When in the early 1990s it became apparent that Europe’s preferential regimes for Caribbean bananas and sugar were coming to an end, an impassioned debate began about a transition to other forms of economic activity.

A little over five years ago the countries of Cariforum signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe.

It is probably true to say that the average person has little idea what international financial institutions like the World Bank or International Monetary Fund (IMF) do, beyond knowing that they are in some way responsible for having governments impose tough austerity measures and conditions in return for their support.

The maritime security of the Caribbean is an issue not often written about.

Over the last five years Russian interest in the Caribbean has been growing steadily; so that today Moscow’s diplomatic profile and its economic presence in a number of Caribbean nations is now stronger than at any time since the end of the Cold War.

In a few weeks’ time President Obama will make a one-day visit to Jamaica.

Over the last two months an extraordinary level of interest has emerged in accelerating engagement with Cuba.

Visitor arrivals to the Caribbean are again increasing. This is good news, but not the whole story.

Last month, Danilo Medina, the President of the Dominican Republic, made clear that it was time to reset his country’s foreign policy to better reflect its development objectives and the process of change and modernisation now underway.

When the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Perry Christie, opens the 26th Caricom Heads of Government Intersessional meeting on February 26th in Nassau, one might be forgiven for wondering if this regional summit will be perceived any more positively than those in the recent past.

Imagine this. You are the Premier of the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands.

Despite the price of oil falling from a high of US$107 per barrel in the middle of 2014 to just over US$50 in late January 2015, this has so far failed to reduce the cost of air travel with the airlines that operate the North American and European routes that bring millions of visitors to the region each year.

A few days ago, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, met with Caribbean leaders in Washington to discuss the region’s long term approach to energy security.

Part 2   A few days ago, Dong Xiaojun, the Chinese Ambassador in Jamaica, wrote a commentary on the recent meetings held in Beijing between China and the Foreign Ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC); the political grouping that includes all of the nations in the Americas other than the US and Canada, and the dependent territories The Ambassador made clear that for China the meeting on January 8 and 9 was “of milestone significance and profound influence.”