Above: Guyana President Donald Ramotar

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana President Donald Ramotar says that by broadening bilateral relations, Caribbean countries can better immunize themselves against the problems that affect other parts of the world.

Ramotar, who was speaking at a reception hosted by the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, said the region’s countries needed to bridge existing gaps and invest in one another’s countries.

“In Guyana, we are located in a position where we can not only facilitate integration in the Caribbean but, with South America as well,” Ramotar said. “The Caribbean must, more and more, begin to see itself as part of a bigger movement.”

One area in which the region can improve is protecting its food supply; with imminent growth in world population, the Caribbean can “definitely built its food security,” he said.

Cleo Huggins, executive director of Invest SVG in St Vincent and the Grenadines, said the Caribbean Association of Investemnt Promotions Agencies was trying to promote the Caribbean as an investment location rather than as individual countries.

“We believe that each individual [country] has its own strengths, but collectively it will be more attractive to investors from the rest of the world,” he said.