Caribbean Integration

by Basil Springer

“Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you…We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth”
3 John 1:5,8

Fifteen years ago I began to focus in my writings on an alternative model for third world economic development. This continued after my first visit to Singapore where I further understood the Rt. Excellent Errol Walton Barrow’s concept “Barbados - the Singapore of the Caribbean”. Since then many Caribbean countries have adopted Singapore’s success as their international benchmark.

Almost ten years ago I had an opportunity to work as a consultant with the Caribbean Development Bank and developed the Caribbean Business Enterprise Initiative which was an innovative strategy to create “sunrise” industries to replace the fading “sunset” industries, like commodity sugar and bananas. The Caribbean Enterprise Development Trust Inc. (CBET) was established as a private sector managed entity outside of the CDB to implement the CBEI concepts. CBET has evolved over the last six and a half years into the CBET Shepherding model which integrates the idea, business systems and money in an amalgam which, if shepherded, will lead to sustainable business success.

In 2007 I had the privilege of working with the Indigenous Services division of Invest Barbados which has provided further insight into the constraints that inhibit entrepreneurship development in the Caribbean and has shed light on the possible solutions that may be developed. It was this latest association that exposed me to the creative industries to the extent that my vocabulary now includes phrases such as “unleashing creative and humanitarian energy” and “penetrating social space” (full article)