AT the upcoming Caribbean Investment Forum, investment discussions will prioritise Renewable Energy, Agriculture Technology, and ICT digital business.

The forum is scheduled for October 23-25 in Nassau, Bahamas, according to Dr. Damie Sinanan of the Caribbean Export Development Agency.

Dr Sinanan told Guyana Chronicle that this year’s forum is going to be the largest gathering of business persons in the Caribbean with over 800 persons already on board, and will focus on promoting investments in the Caribbean region.

Particularly, he indicated that the four main areas of focus this year include Agriculture Technology, Renewable energy, ICT Digital Business and FINTECH and Logistics and Transport. These areas have been selected, he said, as these can be transformational to the Caribbean region.

As part of this year’s activities, he said that there will be presentations on investment projects to investors from around the globe, along with panel discussions on why the Caribbean is ripe for investment.

The Caribbean Export Development Agency, he added, scoured the globe and identified just around 60 investors that have the capital and are looking for projects to invest in these specific areas.

“So, we are bringing them to the Bahamas and trying to get them to network with the companies in the Caribbean so that they can introduce that capital to invest in technology, in innovation to invest in new production processes to really get off the ground so that we can grow as a region, hire more people, increase employment, earn more foreign exchange and so on,” he explained.

He added that the forum will create space for private sector bodies around the region looking for areas of investment in other Caribbean countries to find the same, while also providing opportunities for companies to invest in government projects across the Caribbean.

The theme for the 2023 Caribbean Investment Forum is, “Building a Bold New Caribbean” and it was chosen as the conference will focus on building resilience and sustainability among Caribbean businesses.

Dr Sinanan added, “This is not going to be a talk shop; it’s not going to be governments talking; it’s going to be business people engaging with business people and learning from business people.”

He added that investors from outside of the Caribbean region have been invited and that the forum is also pushing for and promoting intraregional investment.

Businesses, he added, can come on board if they have opportunities in those or any other areas and work with investors from North America, Europe, India, and Latin America and network with businesses which can bring capital to their projects within those sectors as well.