THE High Level Caribbean Forum held in Trinidad and Tobago at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on September 4 and 5 ended on an optimistic note with participants expressing confidence that CARICOM countries could recover from the devastating effects of the global financial crisis once they adopt the correct remedial measures.

The Forum was a collaborative effort of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and attracted several high ranking officials including Prime Ministers, the Deputy Director of the IMF, the Governor of the CDB and Finance Ministers among others.
Guyana was represented by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Lawrence Williams
The objective of the Forum was to discuss and formulate a policy to deal with the peculiarities of small states in dealing with the effects of the global financial crisis.
Deputy Director of the IMF, Min Zhu, speaking at the opening of the forum noted that economic growth in the region has been weak as the economies have been hit hard by the financial crisis which have been compounded by internal weaknesses and therefore they will have to face a lot of challenges.
Mr. Zhu explained that because of their small economic size the countries in the region would find it extremely difficult to handle external economic shocks and this would lead to greater challenges for small states and therefore solutions would have to be formulated to deal with the situation.
President of the CDB, Warren Smith said the economic sloth has been affecting the dynamic poles of growth and collective vulnerability requires collective action. In this regard he urged that the private sector, governments, labour and civil society work together to deal with the economic challenges ahead
Finance Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Larry Howai, also speaking at the opening of the Forum exhorted that the reality of the current financial situation demands fiscal adjustments and his country is aware of the challenges ahead.
He revealed that unemployment in his country is low and foreign exchange is at a reasonable level. However, Howai said the Forum is timely and hope its outcome would result in helping the region supervise the fiscal imperatives and provide steps to address fiscal challenges.