delisle worrell : the initiative of the financial stability board on “ noncooperative jurisdictions ” from a caribbean perspective remarks by dr delisle worrell, governor of the central bank of barbados, on behalf of the caribbean group at breakfast with the managing director of the international monetary fund ( imf ), washington dc, 10 october 2010. * * * the international business and financial sector is vital to caribbean growth the international business and financial sector ( ibfs ) plays a key role in the strategies for diversifying the sources of growth for the small countries of the caribbean. these countries are all very open and dependent on foreign - exchange earnings as the engine of growth and employment. already the ibfs is the principal source of foreign exchange and growth for the smallest countries, and for others it is second in importance only to tourism. yet other caribbean countries look to the sector as a potential source of diversification. all caribbean jurisdictions ground their ibfs sectors on their competitive advantages of geographical location, environmental appeal, a superior quality of life, a relatively stable economic and political environment, and a highly skilled labour force. in addition, well established caribbean jurisdictions like the bahamas and barbados now boast a strong infrastructure of professional and technical skills, in law, accounting, finance and related disciplines, and can provide those services to international financial institutions at highly competitive prices. furthermore, the caribbean is dedicated to the business of high quality institutions operating through fully legitimate channels and in accordance with the best international standards and practices. in order to guarantee the quality of our international financial services caribbean jurisdictions have been fully involved for the past decade in the financial sector assessment programs ( fsap ) and reviews of standards and codes ( roscs ), conducted by the imf and world bank, and actively participate in the work of the financial action task force ( fatf ) and the caribbean regional body cfatf. there are published reports on these reviews available for all jurisdictions. as is inevitably the case, there are, in every case, areas where financial regulation needs to be upgraded and legislation and guidelines need to be revised. there is universal commitment to address the issues identified, as swiftly as resources and skills permit. in this effort the caribbean benefits from technical assistance from the caribbean regional technical assistance centre ( cartac ), the imf, the association of supervisors of banks of the americas ( asba ) and financial supervisory agencies of the us, canada, the uk and others. the caribbean welcomes any further assistance which the

delisle worrell : growing the economy address by dr delisle worrell, governor of the central bank of barbados, at the barbados chamber of commerce and industry ’ s lunchtime lecture, bridgetown, 27 march 2013. * * * barbadians can and must grow our economy, in order to continue the improvement in the quality of life for our citizens, to provide job opportunities for our enterprising youth, and to enrich our culture and society. growth must be sustainable, by which i mean that it must yield lasting benefit. the jobs we create should be permanent, the additional income we earn must enable us to buy more goods and services this year, and the next, and the year following. that means we must fuel the growth of our economy by increasing the amount of foreign exchange we earn each year. the point of departure for strategising about growth is the question : how may we earn more foreign exchange from tourism, international business services and agro processing and how may we economise on the use of the foreign exchange we earn? let us together examine what we know about these questions. we must become more competitive, not by selling our services cheaply, but by reducing bureaucratic inefficiency, improving access to finance, and upgrading the national work ethic. the world competitiveness index, compiled by the global forum, offers guidance in this regard. these three items are the issues most often cited as obstacles to doing business in barbados. significant gains in these areas will come with commitment to excellence, attention to detail, persistence, and intolerance of substandard service. the institutions are in place to assist us in reaching the goal : the national initiative for service excellence, the productivity council and the public sector reform unit, among others. we must find ways to make them work effectively. central bank has made a commitment to ourselves and the nation to lead the way. i take this opportunity to invite everyone who uses our services to hold us to an international standard of high performance. always ensure that we let you know, up front, when you should expect a response from us or completion of your business with us. if we are excessively or persistently tardy, i am expecting you to be in touch with me directly. we should refine tourism marketing strategies. central bank is assisting this effort by researching local tourism markets within our major source countries, among other studies. this is but one element in the multifaceted strategy now underway