EU launches $104M investment facility for C’bean

 Several regional countries will benefit from a Bds$104 million Caribbean Investment Facility (CIF) which the European Union launched in Barbados last Friday.

The event took place at the Accra Beach Resort and Hotel with Barbados Government Minister, Senator Darcy Boyce, hailing the facility as a key plank for sustained economic development in the region.

Senator Darcy Boyce, Barbados Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Office, and Jolita Butkevicience, EuropeAid Director for
Latin America and the Caribbean, at the CIF launch last Friday.

Some of those gathered for last Friday’s launch.

The CIF, an innovative financing mechanism, was created by the European Union last year to mobilise additional financing from European and Caribbean development and finance institutions. It seeks to respond to the requirements to support investment projects.

Senator Boyce, who is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said the initiative is timely. He told the delegates attending the function that the facility represents another area of co-operation between the EU and CARIFORUM countries.

Senator Boyce remarked that small states such as those in the Caribbean are very susceptible to global shocks and that with their economies closely linked to the global economies, this initiative is much needed.

“It allows the countries in the region to stimulate sustainable economic growth by attracting more foreign direct investment and by pooling trade-related activities through the provision of efficient transport and communication systems,” the Minister declared.

He said, too, that other areas for co-operation under the CIF includes fostering regional integration, the eradication of poverty and confronting climate change issues.

“This programme is one of many mechanisms provided by the European Union to assist regional countries in attaining their national economic goals,” Senator Boyce said.

To date, eight projects have been identified to receive funding from the CIF, with a total investment cost of more than Bds$760 million.

One of the first projects which the CIF Board approved was a Bds$20.6 million investment for the further development of geothermal power in Dominica. The agreement for that venture was signed last Friday by a representative of the Government of Dominica and others from the EU and Agence Francaise de Development (AFD).

Other projects in the areas of interconnectivity, energy, transportation, disaster mitigation and adaptation, communication, water and sanitation, and social services infrastructure are earmarked for funding under the CIF.  

Senator Boyce noted that based on the Indicative Programme sponsored by the European Union, Barbados has received assistance for the construction of the Barbados Hospitality Institute, the establishment of the Barbados Language Centre, tool kits for students pursuing the Common Entrance Examination and grants to small state actors on the island.

Barbados is also one of the first countries in the region for which budgetary support was provided for the health sector under the Ninth European Development Fund.

Support has also been given to a Government of Barbados Human Resource Development Programme.

The main objectives of the accompanying measures are to promote sustainable growth.