patient capital and a different approach to financing investment in innovation ( mazzucato, 2013 ). before i conclude, a word from ai. i invited a generative ai application, openai ’ s chatgpt, to opine on how the caribbean region could be successful in harnessing creative disruption and innovation for transformative change and sustainable growth. this was its response ( slide 11 ) : eastern caribbean central bank p. o. box 89, basseterre, st kitts, west indies “ yes, the caribbean region can succeed in using creative disruption and innovation for sustainable growth by leveraging its cultural richness and entrepreneurial spirit, investing in education and technology, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders to seize opportunities in renewable energy, sustainable tourism, and other sectors while preserving its unique heritage and environment. ” - openai, 2024 guess what? even ai believes in us! 6. conclusion in conclusion, i wish to thank the planning team of this year ’ s dialogue, including our team lead, ms sybil welsh, for their collaboration and creativity. i thank all our moderators, speakers and youth entrepreneurs. and i thank you – the audience – for investing your precious time with us for two days. to all of us, but especially our youth entrepreneurs who are leading the charge in our region ’ s innovation thrust, i leave you with encouragement from renowned author, sarah ban breathnach ( slide 12 ) : “ the world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. but above all, what the world needs most are dreamers that do. ” eastern caribbean central bank p. o. box 89, basseterre, st kitts, west indies - sarah ban breathnach i end with my call to action – a personal anthem of sorts : “ as a region, we cannot change our history nor can we change our geography but we can elevate our development trajectory through innovation and collective action. ” ( slide 13 ) - timothy n. j. antoine i thank you. end eastern caribbean central bank p. o. box 89, basseterre, st kitts, west indies references etzkowitz, h., & leydesdorff, l. ( 1995 ). the triple helix - - universityindustry - government relations : a laboratory for knowledge based economic development. easst review, 14 ( 1 ), 14 - 19. feldman, a. ( 2019, december 3 ). 30 under 30 manufacturing 2020 : meet the

above potential growth and to average between 1. 7 % and 2. 2 % in 2017, 2018 and 2019. the risks to the growth outlook are broadly balanced : on the upside, the current cyclical momentum could result in stronger than expected growth, while the remaining downside risks relate primarily to global factors and developments in the exchange rate. from today ’ s point of view, the strength and resilience of the recovery tends to foster our confidence that reflationary forces will gradually support a return of headline inflation towards a level that is below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. but inflation dynamics remain subdued. after hovering at levels well below 1 % for three years, with occasional dips into negative territory, euro area headline inflation edged higher towards the end of last year and stood at 1. 5 % in september according to eurostat ’ s flash estimate. owing to energy - related base effects, headline inflation rates are likely to temporarily decline towards the turn of the year. looking further ahead, as reflected in the latest ecb staff projections, headline inflation is expected to remain notably below a level that is consistent with our inflation aim over the next two years, averaging 1. 5 % in 2019. furthermore, the recent volatility in the exchange rate represents a source of uncertainty which requires monitoring with regard to its possible implications for the medium - term outlook for price stability. some measures of underlying inflation – which is more closely related to domestic price pressures – have ticked up moderately in recent months. for example, hicp inflation excluding food and energy had been stuck below 1 % for around three years, but was 1. 1 % in september. nevertheless, underlying inflation pressures are still too weak and have so far failed to show convincing signs of a sustained upward trend. an important element keeping underlying price pressures subdued is muted wage dynamics, which are shaped by many factors. in addition to weak productivity developments, the significant degree of remaining labour market slack is limiting wage growth. when assessing slack, it can prove useful to also look at broader measures than the unemployment rate. the so - called “ u6 measure ” captures unemployment, underemployment ( meaning workers who would like to work more hours ) and marginal attachment, namely those workers that are not competing very actively in the labour market, for example because they are not available to start a new job at short notice. this measure currently covers just below 18 % of the labour force and is thus considerably higher than the unemployment rate