This document discusses facilitating trade and investment for Caribbean agrotourism. It first provides context on development challenges in the Caribbean region, noting uneven economic growth and low agricultural productivity compared to other regions. It then proposes a new collaborative approach to building a resilient agriculture sector focused on commercial transitioning and entrepreneurship. This would be led by the Caribbean Development Bank and other partners. Finally, it discusses how facilitating digital financial flows through a regional digital settlement network could help address challenges by enabling real-time payments, tax collection, and data sharing to support regional integration, gender equality, statistics, digitalization, and implementation across sectors.

1. Dr. Justin Ram
Director of Economics
Caribbean Development Bank IICA | 10.10.19
Facilitating Trade and Investment for
Caribbean Agrotourism
FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS

2. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT01
A NEW APPROACH TO AGRICULTURE02
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS03

3. GDP Per Capita*, 1996 – 2017
World Average
Caribbean Small
States
Lowest Regional
Income Earner
PPP, Current Int’l $
Highest Regional
Income Earner
Note: Based on available data from the World Bank. The Lowest Income Earner is always Haiti. The Highest Income Earner is The Bahamas until 2008, then Trinidad and Tobago thereafter
*PPP, current international 4
CONTEXT01 Although per capita production doubled in two decades, growth is uneven across the Region

4. 01 Many regional development challenges are persistent
CONTEXT
Implementation Gap
Regional Approach Gap
Cross-cutting
Challenges

5. 01 Global food insecurity is rising, influenced by both demand and supply factors
CONTEXT

6. 01 However, Caribbean countries’ dependence on the agriculture sector vary widely
CONTEXT

7. 01 Even in BMCs with high agriculture dependence, comparative productivity is low
CONTEXT
1980s
USD/worker
50k
100k
150k
200k
250k
Agricultural Production Value Per Worker, by Region (USD)

8. 01 Unique challenges in the sector magnify existing inequalities
CONTEXT
Rural households are often
highly dependent on agriculture
Poor rural households are highly vulnerable to fluctuations
in agricultural income, increasing their risk of poverty
Gender-based inequalities in
accessing land, labour, finance,
technology, and market information
25% of registered
farmers are female
Low agricultural output disproportionately impacts rural communities

9. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT01
A NEW APPROACH TO AGRICULTURE02
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS03

10. 02 A collaborative effort is needed to build a resilient Agriculture sector
A NEW APPROACH
Economic Growth
WHY
HOW WHO
Growth in agriculture is
the most efficient way to
reduce poverty in rural
areas
Commercial
Transitioning
Subsistence
Resilience
+ CDB and other
development partners
Agri-entrepreneurs
with potential to step-up

11. 02 CDB’s Theory of Change for the sector
A NEW APPROACH

12. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT01
A NEW APPROACH TO AGRICULTURE02
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS03

13. 03 We need to step back in order to jump better
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS
Regional Integration
Gender Equality
Statistics
Digitalisation
Implementation
Cross-cutting
Solutions

14. 03 A digital Settlements Network can facilitate these transactions
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS
Digital Payment
System
Real-time Financial
and Trade data
Tax Data

15. 03 A digital payments system can also facilitate these types of transactions
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS
Customers make
payments digitally
VAT payment and transaction data
automatically paid to the tax authority
Merchant immediately receives
payment in their digital account
Data records about the transaction are
automatically submitted to the
merchant’s bank, customers’ banks,
Central Bank, and other regulators

16. 03 We also need to normalize Smart POS systems
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS

17. 03 ICT trends in the Caribbean support these innovations
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS
Source: ITU (2017)
The share of Caribbean internet users grew from 27% to 53% between 2008 and 2016
Percentage of Individuals using the Internet (%)

18. 03 A Caribbean Digital Settlement System can provide significant benefits to the overall
economy
FACILITATING FINANCIAL FLOWS
Free Movement
of Capital
Reduced
Transaction
Costs
Faster and
Convenient
Transfers
Digital Finance
Network Effects
Improved
Financial
Inclusion

19. Thank You!