Published: 3 April 2017
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): St Kitts and Nevis and other Caribbean nations are getting some advice on measures that should be taken in their quest to strengthen their economies.
US Ambassador Linda Taglialatela, who heads the American Embassy in Bridgetown, says regional states are having a hard time like the rest of the world.
She is of the view however, that there are measures that can be taken to help islands she labels very proud Caribbean nations move forward economically despite existing hardships.
“Each island needs to have a long term plan, I think first they need to not only look at building additional hotels and attracting more tourism but look at infrastructure. Work on their roads, work on their schools, look at ways to diversify out of the tourism sector. I realize that’s probably the biggest and primary source of revenue but they need to look beyond that. I know that St Kitts and Nevis is looking at geothermal energy, I think they do need to diversify to get their energy costs down and they need to find ways to attract business, both private and foreign investors in their country. There are some issues with youth unemployment which leads to the risk of youths turning to crime, I think you need to address how we’re going to deal with it but I think on a whole, each of them has a plan it’s just a matter getting to the point of implementing.”
Ambassador Taglialatela is expecting continued good relations between the Caribbean and the United States.
“I think that the Caribbean has a lot to offer to the world and has a lot to offer the United States as far as a partnership goes. I think that we will continue to have a good relationship and I think that there has to be a good partnership and collaboration between the United States and the Caribbean. We have over 2 million Americans coming to the Caribbean every year and a number of dual citizens living both in the United States and here in the Caribbean and there will always be a close tie between the two areas.”
