SECOND CARIBBEAN REGION DIALOGUE
OUTCOME STATEMENT
LIMA, PERU
OCTOBER 5, 2015
1. We, the member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), held our Second Caribbean
Region Dialogue in Lima, Peru on October 5, 2015.
2. Expectations for sustainable global development have heightened since our inaugural Caribbean
Region Dialogue in April 2015. World leaders recently committed to an ambitious development
framework– the 2030 Agenda – with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core.
International efforts are underway to conclude a legally binding agreement on climate change. The
New Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Silk Road Fund
have been launched.
3. These watershed events are taking place against increasing risks of a prolonged period of slower
global growth and higher volatility in financial and commodity markets which could reverse some
of the stability, growth and development gains made by the Caribbean and make the tasks of
policymakers even more challenging.
4. We, therefore, welcome this second regional dialogue with the G20 and international community
to identify and action early opportunities for the Caribbean to fast-start the financing necessary to
achieve the SDGs.
TURKEY’S PROGRESS AS G20 PRESIDENT FOR 2015
5. Following the historic first engagement between the Caribbean region and the G20 in April 2015,
we welcomed a presentation by His Excellency Ferda Akkerman, Ambassador of Turkey in Peru,
on the excellent progress made by Turkey, as President of the G20 for 2015. Turkey has
championed several initiatives which have direct relevance to the SDGs and to Caribbean
countries. These initiatives help reduce youth unemployment, stimulate development of small and
medium enterprises, reduce food losses and promote access to affordable energy.
6. We wish the Turkish G20 Presidency every success in its forthcoming G20 Antalya Summit and
convey our thanks to the Turkish authorities for the open, engaging and inclusive process of
collaboration, knowledge sharing and discourse with the Caribbean region in 2015. This has
established an important platform for Caribbean-G20 dialogue and we express our hope this
qualitative dialogue would develop further momentum in 2016, during China’s G20 Presidency.
7. We request the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, working with interested members, prepare a
short Statement on behalf of all CARICOM (Caribbean) members, setting out selected key
priorities for the region. This statement will be provided to the Turkey as G20 President ahead of
the G20 Antalya Summit to be held in November 2015.
NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK
8. We welcomed an address by Mr. KV Kamath, the newly-appointed President of the New
Development Bank (NDB). The NDB is establishing its operational, governance and other
structures and plans to commence lending in early 2016. President Kamath outlined the fresh
approach the NDB intends to pursue, focused on learning from country experiences, identifying
ways to reduce the cost of financing and securing faster approvals through reduced bureaucracy.
9. We recognize the open approach of the President of the NDB as a valuable opportunity to advance
collaboration between the Caribbean and the NDB. We will examine options to develop a focused
programme of engagement with the NDB and report back on progress at our Third Caribbean
Region Dialogue.
IMF AND CARIBBEAN SMALL STATES CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE
10. We welcomed a presentation by Mr. Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, on the
active role of the Fund in contributing to the Post 2015 development agenda. The IMF is
expanding access to and reducing costs for its financial resources, strengthening policy work, Fund
advice and deepening efforts to support capacity building.
11. We note recent IMF debt sustainability analysis highlighting options for Caribbean countries to
scale up much needed public infrastructure investment, while retaining fiscal space and
progressively reducing public indebtedness over the medium term. We recognize this as a new
approach by the Fund and agreed to explore this area closely.
12. We warmly welcome the launch of an historic Caribbean Small States Capacity Building
Initiative, spearheaded by the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. The capacity building
initiative which was signed by the IMF's Deputy Managing Director and the Governor, Central
Bank of Trinidad and Tobago outlines, among other things, financing to support participation of
Caribbean officials, from thirteen Caribbean small states, to intern at the IMF for at least six
months to build their knowledge, capacity and familiarity with the Fund and its work.
FINANCING CARIBBEAN BLUE ECONOMY
13. We took forward outcomes from our initial exchange of perspectives on the Caribbean Blue
Economy held during the inaugural Caribbean Region Dialogue, examining innovative sources of
financing, SDG 14 - conserving oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
14. We welcomed a presentation from Mr. Jean Paul Adam, Minister of Finance and the Blue
Economy, the Seychelles, outlining progress achieved by the Seychelles in developing blue bonds
to finance investment in marine conservation. We recognize the potential of blue bonds to help
finance many aspects of the Blue Economy and saw merit in international development institutions
taking the lead in structuring blue bonds and absorbing many of the costs involved in arranging
these financial instruments.
15. We also welcomed a presentation by Mr. Robert Weary, The Nature Conservancy, highlighting the
growing use of debt-for-nature adaptation swaps, providing for the buying back of debt, with
resources transferred to a Trust for development of sustainable fisheries and eco-tourism.
Although debt-for-nature swaps are of relatively small size, we believe these financial instruments
can help secure additional investment in the marine space.
16. We note a convergence among interlocking challenges, particularly for small states, in financing
the Blue Economy, unlocking climate financing and achieving the SDGs. We urge the
international community to work with climate vulnerable Caribbean countries on finding solutions
to this increasingly integrated set of challenges, as a matter of urgency.
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FINANCING CARIBBEAN INFRASTRUCTURE
17. We note the Caribbean region has significant unmet infrastructure needs in energy, transport,
trade, tourism, climate-related and industrial sectors. Long-term infrastructure financing resources
are inadequate and costly, making it imperative for the region to find innovative ways to finance
SDG 9 on building resilient infrastructure.
18. We welcomed a presentation from Mr. Amar Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow at the Brookings
Institution, highlighting the urgent need to change the approach to infrastructure and infrastructure
financing in the region. If we are to close the infrastructure deficit in the Caribbean, we must
address price distortions in energy, carbon and water, use the public sector as a major driver of
infrastructure decision-making and find ways to reduce costs of infrastructure financing.
19. We stress the need for multilateral and other financial institutions to recognize the underlying
causes of inadequate infrastructure as intrinsic factors in pricing and securing resilient
infrastructure in the Caribbean. These factors include small population size, limited opportunities
for diversification, severe indebtedness, acute vulnerability to climate change and large shocks
resulting in disproportionately large-scale damage to infrastructure resources.
20. We recognize the strong interlinkages between climate change and infrastructure provision in
small Caribbean states. We agree new institutions such as the New Development Bank, the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the New Silk Road Fund can potentially support some of the
region’s unmet infrastructure financing needs. We will examine how best to engage with these
new institutions at an early stage and report back on progress at our Third Caribbean Region
Dialogue.
OTHER MATTERS
21. We thank Governor Jwala Rambarran, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, for initiating,
convening and chairing the Second Caribbean Region Dialogue. The next meeting of the
Caribbean Region Dialogue is expected to take place on Monday April 11, 2016 during the
IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC.
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