CDB a success story

Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Camille Robinson-Regis, on Wednesday described the financial institution as a success story that remains largely unheralded. She stressed that as a regional institution with essentially the same mandate as larger development financial institutions, the CDB had provided “unstinting support” to the public and private sectors across the region and assisted many countries in achieving both their long and short-term goals. However, she noted that increased financing was needed to fund poverty alleviation strategies and address development challenges facing countries in the region. This posed a problem as funds had to be chanelled into new areas that were clearly necessary. “It is envisaged that large amounts of capital will be needed to address poverty reduction linked with the achievement of the Millennium Develo-pment Goals (MDGs) and meeting other developmental challenges in borrowing member countries (BMCs),” Robinson-Regis said.

“At the same time that the demand for additional financing is increasing, we note with some concern that the level of funds from traditional sources is being slowly whittled away by the need to divert these resources to engage in new policy areas such as the war on terrorism and the requirement for investment and development capital in other regions.” Robinson-Regis, who is also the Minister of Planning and Development and Trinidad and Tobago’s Governor on the CDB, made the point when she addressed the opening ceremony of the 34th annual meeting of the CDB Board of Governors at the Hilton Tobago on Wednesday. Robinson-Regis said the institution had therefore undertaken the initiative of attracting new members and supporters to the cause of sustainable development of the Caribbean.

“The bank, I know, recognises its own constraints arising out of its small size and limited resources, and, in an effort to enhance its capacity, is continuing its synergising and harmonising with multilateral financial and development institutions to increase its effectiveness”, the CDB Board chairman explained. Meanwhile, in terms of the benefits Trinidad and Tobago has so far enjoyed in its 30-year relationship with the CDB, Robinson-Regis revealed that loan approvals to this country have amounted to over US$160 million. In addition, some US $1.7 million in loan funding from the CDB is available for projects in the 2004 Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).