Roseau, March 26, 2021 – At the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC)’s Eggs & Issues Breakfast on Wednesday, March 24th, 2021 on ‘What Lies Ahead for Dominica with COVID: The Health and Socio-Economic Perspective,’ the Private Sector has been encouraged to unite in fighting against the pandemic and to keep its guard up, as health and social protection is central to economic prosperity and sustainable development.
Regional experts, Dr. Yitades Gebre, PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries who represented Dr. Carissa Etienne, Director of PAHO/WHO, and Dr. Justin Ram, Former Director of Economics at Caribbean Development Bank and Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GSec and Justin Ram Advisory Services, presented on the health and socio-economic perspectives respectively.
Dr. Yitades guided through the five stages in our response to COVID-19 and recommended several approaches are necessary to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Dominica. It was noted that there is no one solution but a toolbox of solutions is essential. Vaccination is one of the tools, among others such as public health and social measures in our toolkit of solutions.
Dr. Ram recommended a blueprint for Dominica and the Caribbean with a strategy to turn equal opportunities into tangible rewards at the household and individual levels. This focused on building a sustainable society to include: macro-economic recovery and resilience, improving productivity and competitiveness, strong social policy and human development, and building environmental preparedness. These blueprints were underpinned by five key areas of focus: regional integration, gender equality, statistics, digitization, and implementation. Dr. Ram’s presentation also noted how the global population’s evolution is helping to change world trade patterns. These patterns were examined and opportunities for trade were highlighted.
Executive Director of DAIC shared, “the proposed model by Dr. Ram on the eight steps to delivery can be leveraged by Dominica to design and strengthen our institutions and regulations to implement these essential blueprints. This will require all stakeholders including all citizens to work together to accomplish these. A few of the key steps such as prioritization by our cabinet, establishing planning labs for stakeholder groups to work collectively, open days for all aspects of our society to share contributions and designing of our roadmap, before implementation, can begin. The DAIC is committed to working toward implementing key actions recommended from the discussion to build a stronger Dominica.”
The DAIC expresses gratitude to its sponsors: DoIt Center (Gold), UNITE (Silver and Production), Mlagan (Bronze), and Draw Teas (Tea), as well as thanks all participants and stakeholders who contributed to the success of the event.
