World Bank Exec. Urges Leveraging Of Young Caribbean Talents

By NAN Business News Editor

News Americas, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Fri. Oct. 24, 2014: A senior official at the World Bank yesterday urged the Caribbean region to leverage its “young talents.”

Delivering remarks at the 2014 High Level Caribbean Forum in Jamaica yesterday, Jorge Familiar, VP Latin America and the Caribbean at The World Bank, said one of the most valuable assets in the Caribbean region is its young people.

“By leveraging young talents, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries are positioning themselves to become technology hubs,” Familiar said, while urging governments to make sure there is access to quality education.

“We already see emerging some successful initiatives providing services to the virtual economy through the development of smartphone applications, technical assistance (through call centers, for example) and digital animation. In this sense, the quality of education will be key,” he added in a speech titled: “Unlocking Growth in the Caribbean,” and delivered in Montego Bay.

His comments come as a World Bank study itself found that young people in the region can play an important role in empowerment and national and regional development.

Familiar also said the region has a large renewable energy potential, especially the potential for geothermal energy generation, which would help reduce costs for their oil-dependent electricity sector.

He also added that building centers of excellence in several areas of the health sector, where a group of countries have a clear competitive edge and developing a blue agenda by supporting economic sectors dependent on the ocean ecosystem including sustainable seafood production, tourism, energy and carbon storage, as well as natural infrastructure, are some of the new engines of future economic growth that can be looked at.

“The World Bank Group– including IFC and MIGA – stands ready to support Caribbean nations in the pursuit of these ambitious development agendas,” Familiar added.