TCI premier welcomes CDB and development partners to major upcoming regional meeting

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The region’s advancement will take centre stage in Turks and Caicos on June 13 – 16, 2022 when the development community will gather in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) for the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Board of Governors (BOG).

The meeting which is being hosted by current BOG chair, premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), Charles Misick is CDB’s flagship event.

According to premier Misick, who also serves as the bank’s governor for the British Overseas Territories, “this meeting and similar undertakings of this nature are beneficial to both the region and TCI to sustain and partner as we work to towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and more importantly decreasing our vulnerabilities and building resilience.”

Speaking at the press launch of the annual meeting in TCI on May 10, Dr Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, president of the Caribbean Development Bank said: “Resilience for us is one of, if not the most existential factors we face…being able to build resilience, being able to drive our own future…becomes the most ethical obligation…our entire focus is on adaptation and mitigation building resilience for a brighter tomorrow.”

The annual meeting will enable a variety of minds and interests in development to formulate solutions by looking practically and honestly at what has been accomplished and what is left undone. This will undoubtedly mould a post covid recovery inclusive of all interests with the intent of bringing Caribbean countries closer to the SDGs.

The SDGs will be examined in discussions and the region’s progress in achieving set targets evaluated. Sessions for administrators, policymakers and institutions will look at the distance from the SDGs and approaches to measure and better target outcomes while managing vulnerabilities, accelerating adaptation and building resilience.

The annual meeting is a dialogue by the bank’s highest decision-making body involving innovative, solutions-oriented discourse on current development challenges. The bank hosts complementary discussions with partner organisations and international experts on key issues facing the region at the event.  On the agenda this year are food security, public accounting for the SDGs, the Caribbean energy transition, youth involvement and participation in development, development financing and the role of financing institutions, addressing and responding to vulnerabilities, building resilience focused on CDB’s proposed Recovery Duration Adjuster and an exploration of CARICOM-Africa linkages for accelerated development.

Participants include the president of the African Development Bank, Dr Akimwumi Adesina, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mauricio Claver-Carone, president of the European Investment Bank, Dr Werner Hoyer, government ministers from the bank’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs), development partners and private sector interests.

The meetings will all examine and formulate evidence-based strategies and precise actions to meet the SDGs by leveraging knowledge, innovation, and creativity to foster resilience, drive economic diversity, and increase the competitive advantage for our economies. With less than eight years left until 2030, the region must accelerate its efforts to close the gap to the SDGs. CDB is therefore championing innovative solutions to respond to the region’s social, financial, and environmental challenges. The annual meeting, themed Measure Better to Target Better: Adaptation and Resilience, is reflective of the Bank’s objective to propel its BMCs to align national priorities with the SDGs.