Southern belt is point of focus for balanced economic development
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Southern belt is point of focus for balanced economic development |
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Contact: Shannon Lebourne
Wednesday 23 March 2011 – Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Investment Honourable Rufus Bousquet says government is working extremely hard to continue the island’s economic growth despite numerous challenges.
Minister Bousquest says it is critical to provide employment opportunities for the country`s youth and to reduce Saint Lucia`s debt to GDP ratio.
He explains that government’s plans have been severely affected by a slowdown in global investment.
“This government has been very active in terms of how we can expand the country’s economy to support our population heading forward. In terms of government 's investment programme—which I am in charge of—I must say it has been very difficult at but what we have done is set the foundation and positioned Saint Lucia so that very soon when the global economy comes out of the recession we will find ourselves in a better position to attract investment.”
Minister Bousquet revealed that there are several investors who have expressed interests in developing businesses like call centres, manufacturing and tourism, and government is keen on bringing these developments on stream.
One of government’s main priorities at this time is to develop the southern region of the country to create an economic balance.
“The development of the south is really the future of Saint Lucia. There is a huge imbalance in terms of the economic development of the country; the north is overly developed in comparison to the south and this has resulted in too many of our young people finding themselves having to be transplanted from their homes in the south to come to the north.”
In light of a meltdown in international aid for investments, the government of Saint Lucia has had to find very unique ways of raising the capital that is necessary to continue developing Saint Lucia. |
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