Conference on the Economy 2021 looks at equipping the region for accelerated development
The COVID-19 pandemic requires the Caribbean to find new tools and techniques to drive our development agenda. It has presented opportunities for fostering more meaningful integration, boldly advancing our development agenda with a focus on areas such as digital transformation, nutrition and food security, energy security, education and training, and creating an environment where innovate ideas can be used to enhance productivity in our region.
From November 24 to 26, the Conference on the Economy (COTE) 2021 will look at regional development in the post-COVID world. Hosted by the Department of Economics of UWI St Augustine’s Faculty of Social Sciences, COTE will bring together policymakers, academics, students, and the private sector to discuss themes such as manufacturing, energy and renewables, new agriculture, the blue economy, and cultural industries.
The theme for COTE 2021, now in its 15th year, is “Accelerating Caribbean Development - Retooling and Restructuring Caribbean Economies Post COVID-19”.
Dr Roxanne Brizan-St Martin, Instructor with the Department of Economics, in referring to the work of the CARICOM Commission on the Economy, highlighted that:
“Retooling and restructuring Caribbean economies involves equipping the region with strategies to manage our challenges and vulnerabilities. While our challenges are real and we are hindered by structural inequities ‘embedded in our history’ or by other factors, it is a call to action in which the people of the Caribbean are placed at the centre of the development dialogue for a stronger, more sustainable, resilient, inclusive and equitable development path. This requires adjustments, moving from strategic thinking to strategic action.”
Investing in people, as our most valuable resource, is critical in this process. The pandemic and many of the measures implemented to mitigate its spread have resulted in many people becoming unemployed and in poverty. Addressing this requires employment creation beyond short term relief programmes and furnishing people with skills and training for their long-term well-being. Navigating the effects of the pandemic requires a people-centric development approach, one in which the people of the region are placed at the centre of the development dialogue. It requires a human touch.
“As we move towards retooling and restructuring, it is important to highlight that the pandemic is ongoing, and its full impact will depend on its duration,” said Dr Brizan-St Martin. “In moving forward, we need an innovative, efficient and collaborative response guided by a spirit of solidarity in which consultative decision-making and social values take priority.”
COTE, hosted annually by the Department of Economics, is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most prominent events that focuses on the national economy, as well as regional economic matters. COTE 2021 events started in October with its Youth Armchair Discussion and Youth Debate Knockoff Competition (the finals took place on November 11). COTE will hold its Youth Graduate Poster Competition on November 22.
The Conference on the Economy takes place virtually from November 24 to 26. For more information on COTE 2021, visit https://sta.uwi.edu/fss/economics/conference-economy-2021.Dr Roxanne Brizan-St Martin is an Instructor with the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Science.
