Government is committed to taking various approaches to building Barbados’ brand and its global business profile.
Minister of Energy and Business, Senator Lisa Cummins, stressed this commitment on Thursday evening, as she delivered remarks at the Barbados Risk and Insurance Management Conference Networking Reception, at the Hilton Barbados Resort. The two-day event is being hosted by BIBA, the Association for Global Business, and ends today.
Senator Cummins told her audience there was an opportunity to become global leaders in regulatory technology. “We are in the process…of developing a framework that looks at using regulatory technology, …and the advances attached to regulations and to technology…to distinguish Barbados in a new space of commercial diplomacy for our global business sector.
“We will be engaging with many of you over the coming weeks on what that framework potentially looks like, what the opportunities are, [and] what sectors Barbados has an opportunity to go further into….”
The Minister again gave BIBA the assurance that the challenges being experienced in the regulatory space were a priority for Government, as she pointed out that vital work was being undertaken.
“We started the work now, in our Ministry, specific to CAIPO and our overall regulatory regime, to look at what our competitive set looks like. Simply put, who are Barbados’ competitors in the region and in the globe? How long does it take for every single transaction that you are required to undertake in a regulatory environment in those competitor jurisdictions?
“If it takes five days in a competitor jurisdiction, we aim to ensure that Barbados can do it in two. If it takes two days in a competing jurisdiction, we need to make sure that Barbados can do it in one day or in hours,” she explained.
Senator Cummins said she would be depending on partners in the sector to work with the International Business Unit and CAIPO to ensure that competitive position is achieved by the middle of this year.
She thanked BIBA for hosting the conference, which she described as important.