Financial Secretary Looks Forward to CDB Deliberations
By: , May 18, 2016The Key Point:
The Facts
- The President said the CDB is working on a major agricultural project for Jamaica, which will have international funding and will be far-reaching.
- The bank’s purpose is to contribute to the harmonious economic growth and development of the member states and promote economic co-operation and integration among them, having special regard to the needs of the less developed countries.
The Full Story
Financial Secretary, Devon Rowe, says he is looking forward to the deliberations at the 46th annual meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Board of Governors, now underway in Montego Bay, St. James.
The meetings take place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre as well as at the Ziva Hyatt and Zilara and Iberostar Resorts in St. James.
Welcoming participants at a reception at Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Resort in Montego Bay on May 16, Mr. Rowe said the meeting has a packed agenda.
He added that apart from the discussions which will take place, participants will also be visiting at least one of the projects that the CDB has been supporting.
“The CDB has been providing good support to the countries of this region and that will be further displayed this week Friday (May 20) when they go to the Discovery Bay Primary School (in St. Ann) where they have also provided support,” Mr. Rowe said.
Meanwhile, President of the CDB, Dr. Warren Smith, told JIS News that the CDB is on a mission to revitalise and re-energise the entity and this meeting will move that process forward.
The President said the CDB is working on a major agricultural project for Jamaica, which will have international funding and will be far-reaching.
“The project is in South St. Elizabeth. It’s going to be largely irrigation. We want to provide irrigation for the farmers of South St. Elizabeth. We are excited about it, because our intention is to make it a holistic agricultural project. We want to have proper feeder roads and other facilities that will improve the earning power of the farmers,” Dr. Smith said.
Meanwhile, the meeting, which will end on May 19, will pay tribute to the late former President and one of the region’s most distinguished sons, William Gilbert Demas.
The tribute to Mr. Demas, who passed away in November 1998, will take the form of a lecture to be delivered by World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy, Climate Change Group, Rachel Kyte.
The CDB has its permanent headquarters in Barbados. It is a regional financial institution, which was established by an agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and came into being on January 26, 1970.
The bank’s purpose is to contribute to the harmonious economic growth and development of the member states and promote economic co-operation and integration among them, having special regard to the needs of the less developed countries.