Last week President David Granger led a Guyana delegation to The Bahamas on a State visit which he referred to as an Economic Mission. The society cannot lose sight that the President is currently serving as the Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and his visit came at a time when United States (U.S) President Donald Trump has not only proposed to significantly cut foreign aid but is also focusing on implementing the “America First Policy” by channeling economic programmes and incentives internally.

The US is one of CARICOM’s major economic partners.  Though some within the region may be inclined to harbour reservation that a shift in focus in dealing with the Caribbean could bring with it repercussions, optimists would see such as creating opportunities to look inward and draw on our abilities in utilising indigenous resources to bolster the region’s development. In life they say, if you are given lemons, make lemonade.

The President,in speaking of the region’s possibilities,noted that Bahamas has the capital and a strong tourism industry, while Guyana, Suriname and Belize have resources that can complement the rest of the Caribbean, and when put together, would make the region stronger.  None can deny this. The three countries with their large landmass, tropical forests, and savannahs,present dreams for those desirous of engaging in organic agriculture, eco-tourism, and eco-development, which would bring employment and economic opportunities, direct and indirect.

These aforementioned areas are yet to be fully explored, or remain unknown, or are yet to be properly marketed. When their potentials are looked at in the global economy, the only thing that prevents CARICOM member-states from tapping into the various markets would be us. The truth is, for much too long there have been only talks about the region’s potentials but absent is the comparative strides to unleash them.

It has also become a practice where it is easier to say why something cannot be done rather than explore avenues how to get it done. Entering new terrain, notwithstanding all the feasibility studies and resources available, making things happen require acting on them and taking that leap of faith that comes with the entrepreneurial, exploratory, and the pioneering spirit.

The development of man did not happen overnight, or without risk taking, stepping out on faith, and making mistakes. These are necessary actions in the process of growth and development. And where the people will need to explore, probe, and execute, regional governments,where they do not provide the visionary leadership,will have to create the incentives and enabling environment to allow the people to make it happen.

As a Caribbean people we must wonder why in the midst of so much natural resources and intellectual capacity our economies still heavily depend on the primary products inherited from slavery to the colonial era. Something is definitely amiss and the time is past nigh where hindrances to our collective advancement should be pursued, not merely for identification purposes, but more importantly with the goal to correct whatever deficiencies exist.

Acknowledgment of potentials without putting the necessary systems in place to realising the benefits that should flow therefrom, our human capital will not only continue flight, but our economies would not be able to deliver growth befitting the people’s aspirations, and the stigma of being a people who talk and not act will remain.

What President Granger noted about the region and its people’s potentials have been noted for eons. The advantage his presidency and chairmanship of CARICOM brings is that of a freshness to politics, being new to the leadership of political party, parliamentary office, and the Executive.  As an outsider looking in he would have had the benefit of wide-eye view of the region’s potentials, read analyses by notable figures about CARICOM’s lethargy in delivering on the goals it sets itself, and may have too, now being an insider, placed his pulse on the contributing factors.

President Granger’s newness may be just what the CARICOM Heads of Government need to bring fruition to programmes and make full use of agreements. One such is the Economic Partnership Agreement between CARICOM+Dominican Republic (CARIFORUM) and the European Union that allows opportunity to fill the gap that will be created by the U.S’ re-alignment focus.