Growth
leads to investment in the Caribbean
|
Investment in the countries of the Caribbean is expected to
increase as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) predicts continued
growth over the next year in the economies of the region. CDB
President Professor Compton Bourne said earlier this year that
the positive economic growth experienced in 2003 was influenced
by a favorable global climate, increased public spending in
the United States and a return in business and consumer confidence.
Tourism provided the biggest boost last year to regional
economies, whose governments are moving toward various public/private
initiatives to diversify their success to other sectors.
These include information technology, manufacturing and agriculture.
Tourism for the region is expected to post even greater gains
in 2004 and 2005, according to Therese Feng, an analyst with
global credit ratings group FitchRatings. "The general
trend toward increased tourism in the Caribbean should result
in the posting of more solid gains for virtually all of the
economies in the region," she said.
Feng, who specializes in the Caribbean, added that the region
is emerging strongly from the affects of the global economic
downturn and is expected to gather momentum in creditworthiness. |
