Barbados, along with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretariat will host the first Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) from May 21 to 24, under the theme: Transport, Logistics and Trade Facilitation for Trade-driven Development.
During a hybrid press launch for the GSCF on Wednesday, Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Donna Forde, said that Barbados was pleased to be hosting the four-day, high-level conference, to be held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
She noted that some of the main objectives of the GSCF are to raise awareness surrounding the global supply chain crisis and its impact on small island developing states (SIDS), as well as to discuss possible solutions and the way forward for trade.
Ms. Forde stated that the hosting of the conference is timely, as countries, namely SIDS, seek to rebound from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and build resilience from the climate crisis, but are being impeded by disruptions in the global supply chain.
Such challenges include rising shipping costs; the Red Sea crisis; the war in Ukraine and disruptions to crucial trade corridors – the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal.
“Global Supply Chains are fundamental to the smooth operation of international trade and commerce. Air and maritime transportation, port management, logistics, courier services and warehousing all form part of global supply chains and a breakdown or disruption to any link or node can affect all others on the chain.
“Small Island Developing States are dependent on international trade for their economic and sustainable development given their limited resource endowments. SIDS are heavily reliant on supply chains to ensure businesses and citizens have access to their required goods and services,” Ms. Forde stressed.
The Director General added that SIDS and their people depend on supply chains for almost every facet of our daily lives, and “therefore, if not managed properly, this confluence of disruptions could directly influence our ability to sustain economic growth, maintain our standards of living and achieve our sustainable development goals”.
The Ministry’s National Coordinator for the GSCF, Carlos Wharton, concurred that the Forum is important, especially for SIDS like Barbados to highlight the plight faced by disruptions in the supply chain.
He was of the view that “everything” in Barbados revolves around trade from the importing of food, petroleum products to pharmaceuticals, as well as the raw materials and equipment that go towards the production of our local products.
When asked about some of the expected outcomes and solutions to be derived from the GSCF, the National Coordinator said: “The solutions aren’t easily obtainable. It’s a long slog one step at a time we have to take to be able to achieve any success in the trading development space.
“The major important milestone is the fact that UNCTAD is taking the time and the attention to focus on global supply chains. UNCTAD is a dedicated UN body responsible for trade and development, and it’s absolutely critical that at the core of the system, the United Nations has a say on how global supply chains are to operate. So, from my perspective, the success of this Forum is the fact that it is actually being held.”
Mr. Wharton shared that to date, over 300 registered participants and around 96 registered speakers were registered, and this figure did not factor in Prime Ministers and Ministers of Trade or heads of international organisations, such as the World Trade Organisation, the Inter-American Development Bank or The United Nations Industrial Development Organization.