—President says at opening of US$259M airport in St Vincent

CHAIRMAN of Caricom, President David Granger, said it was time regional governments invest in bigger aerodromes and terminals as this would not only give Caribbean countries a competitive edge in the international aviation sector, but will also bring its citizens closer.
President Granger made the remarks while delivering an address at the opening of the Argyle International Airport, St Vincent and the Grenadines, in his capacity as Chairman of

Caricom,on Tuesday.

The US$259 million airport has a runway that is 9,000 feet long and 150 feet wide. The terminal building has been designed to process 1.5 million passengers annually and 800 people an hour at peak.
President Granger said St Vincent and the Grenadines, like most Caribbean countries, is classified as a small-island developing state. He said smallness, in the international community, has come to be considered, conventionally, but not necessarily correctly, as a constraining factor to development. Small states have been associated with limitations on: attractiveness for investment in physical infrastructure; and competitiveness, owing to the diseconomies of scale.

He said investments in infrastructure in small states, however, are vital to increasing the competitiveness of their goods and services and reducing production and transport costs. “We belong to the Caribbean – a unique zone on earth. Our Region comprises, mainly, of a chain of 7,000 cays, islands, islets and reefs in 2,640,000 km² of sea. We are small and scattered. Our geographical size, however, must not limit our national economic ambitions and our citizens’ personal quality of life,” the President declared. He said small can be beautiful, bountiful and, of course, delightful. “Small states can overcome constraints to their development by leveraging their natural assets through capital investment and physical infrastructure.”

The Guyanese leader quoted the St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Tourism Authority report that almost three out of every five stay-over arrivals were from North America and Western Europe. “Most of the ‘pre-Argyle,’ stay-over arrivals did not enjoy direct flights to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They would have had to transit through other countries, adding to their travelling costs and increasing their inconvenience,” President noted. He said the international tourism industry is very competitive, noting that small states must take steps to reduce the cost and inconvenience of airline travel if they are to retain the comparative advantage of their tourism product and remain globally competitive.

“Investments in infrastructure help small states to improve the competitiveness of their services. Investments in longer aerodromes and larger terminals capable of facilitating more frequent flights with bigger aircraft can boost the competitiveness of their tourism products. The Caribbean welcomes the construction of the Argyle International Airport. It is expected to enhance the Vincentian ‘brand’ and add significantly to Vincentian infrastructural stock. It is expected to make travel from this country’s major tourism markets easier, cheaper and faster,” Granger who is also chairman of Caricom said.
Fragmented region

President Granger said European colonial rivalry created a fragmented Region of sovereign small-island and mainland states. He said the sea that separates the islands and washes the shores of the mainland states must become, increasingly, a source of convergence rather than collision and confrontation. “We have forged a community of small, sovereign states from this legacy of fragmentation and physical separation over the past forty-four years. Caribbean integration is actively being achieved by: constructing institutions to improve cooperation and coordination; facilitating the freer movement of capital goods, people and services; widening contacts among our academics, artistes, investors, sportsmen, students and tourists; and, spanning the sea that, historically, has separated us.”

According to President Granger infrastructure, particularly transportation infrastructure can help to reduce our physical separation and bring the small states of our community closer together. Infrastructure is the means through which we can intensify the contacts among our people, increase intra-regional trade and help us to integrate our economies.
He congratulated the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the completion of the Argyle International Airport and said that Guyana and Caricom look forward to this international airport’s boosting the development prospects of St Vincent and the Grenadines and deepening the integration of the Caribbean Region.