The Caribbean needs to change its traditional way of thinking at the political level, Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo said at a roundtable of the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We still operate in a global system, that will generate a whole deal of instability, so we have to advocate for changes,” he said. “This region would always depend on exports for prosperity so we have to operate in an open trading environment.”

Jagdeo mentioned several potential impediments to Caribbean development, including what he called “minimal” representation on the board of the International Monetary Fund and noted that the Caribbean is not represented at either the G8 or G20 summits.

The president said it was time for the international system to begin to evolve.

“Our ability to influence that evolution is limited,” he said. “Our views tend to go to get to these bodies by proxy.”

–Guyana Information Agency