THE Government of Saint Lucia is banking on a soon to be launched 2019 – 2022 document known as the Medium-Term Development Strategy to improve the socio-economic landscape of the country.
That document came out of a series of consultations with private and public sector stakeholders and includes what Claudius Emmanuel, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs says are six key result areas which are deemed critical in taking the country forward over the 2019 – 2022 period.
“These would have emerged out of consultations we had back in 2018 and the six areas are agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, education, health and citizen security,” Emmanuel said.
That document is not yet complete, as noted by Emmanuel. In his words ‘it’s nearing completion with a plan to have it launched in February 2020 with a donor symposium.”
Key providers of finance will be invited to the launch as finance will be needed to push the six areas outlined.
Associated with the Medium-Term Development Strategy is an initiative with the World Economic Fund which will involve the development of a country financing road map.
“It is an initiative developed by the Prime Minister in terms of being able to mobilize what we call climate financing,” Emmanuel said, adding that there is a lot of money associated with climate change, however the problem is to tap into or access those monies.
“Saint Lucia is to serve as a pilot, an initiative seen to benefit other small islands. We are getting support from the UN World Economic Fund as well as our permanent representative to the United Nations,” Emmanuel said.
He said the country’s financial roadmap has already been established with a secretariat and a task force. The plan is to have baseline assessments. The task force will be composed of key officials from the leading multi-national financial institutions.
That meeting of international financiers is scheduled for Washington, USA in April of this year with a proposed session sometime in September in Saint Lucia.