CDB Releases Cultural Industry Profiles for Ten Borrowing Member Countries
The Caribbean Development Bank’s Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) has released The CIIF List, a series of Creative Industry (CI) Profiles covering 10 of the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs).The CIIF List was developed through a research consultancy in 2020 and provides valuable information on the resources available in the BMCs which are relevant to building a robust and globally competitive CI sector.The countries profiled are:
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Guyana
Haiti
Jamaica
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
The profiles can be viewed and downloaded from www.caribank.org/ciif or from CDB’s issuu page at issuu.com/caribank.The profiles are useful reading for professionals, academics and practitioners working in or connected to the creative industry.Information for the profiles was sourced from publicly available documents and data sets including the UNESCO Quadrennial Report, national budgets, national cultural policy plans, local media sources and others.Additional information was obtained via surveys of regional cultural industry practitioners and stakeholders, which were conducted for this project. Further information was sourced from research conducted for the CARICOM Secretariat in relation to the Consultancy to prepare the Regional Strategic Plan for Cultural and Entertainment Services/Cultural Industries in CARIFORUM States (2016-2018), with financing from the European Union 10th European Development Fund, provided courtesy of CARICOM.
The ECSE set to become the first regulated exchange in the Western Hemisphere to enable Tokenized IPOs
The Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Ltd (ECSE) is pleased to announce the signing of a Master Agreement with Canadian FinTech Blockstation to launch a new blockchain-driven tokenized securities market.
The ECSE, a regional exchange representing eight Caribbean national economies, will leverage the Blockstation Ecosystem to attract a new class of issuer that is technology savvy and eager to tokenize their securities and raise capital on the open market. A Tokenized IPO can reduce time and cost when compared to traditional workflows, driving efficiencies for all parties and positioning the ECSE as an innovation leader among regulated stock exchanges.
“By embracing tokenization of securities on the Blockchain, we send a strong signal to issuers and investors everywhere that we are ready for the next evolution in capital markets,” says Trevor Blake, ECSE’s Managing Director. “Our partnership with Blockstation will ensure our ability to provide a safe, secure, and highly efficient on-ramp for issuers to conduct Tokenized IPOs, raise capital, and attract the investors they need to grow and thrive.”
This Master Agreement follows a successful pilot of the Blockstation platform which involved the ECSE, the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository Ltd, First Citizens Investment Services Ltd, the Bank of St. Lucia Ltd, and the Grenada Co-operative Bank Ltd in 2021. The pilot confirmed the suitability of Blockstation to provide end-to-end functionality for all stakeholders to list, trade, clear and settle tokenized securities as well as manage the compliant onboarding of issuers and investors in a regulated environment.
“We’re excited to partner with the ECSE in creating a new securities marketplace built around Blockchain, tokenization and smart contract technology,” says Marko M. Hafez, Co-Founder and CEO of Blockstation. “The tokenized securities market is rapidly increasing in value around the globe and a holistic, blockchain-driven solution is exactly what regulated exchanges need to modernize, attract issuers, support Tokenized IPOs, and remain competitive in today’s digital marketplace.”
Republic Bank Enhances Learning with the Donation of Computers
Republic Bank, in its ongoing commitment to the community it serves and its strong sense of corporate social responsibility, recently donated 14 Wi-Fi enabled desktop computers loaded with Office 365 to the Patricia D. James Secondary School. Recognizing that electronic devises for school learning were not just necessary during the pandemic but that they are important elements of learning in the digital era, the bank readily identified the education institution to offer the computers to.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Country Manager Gordon Julien stated, “We at Republic Bank take a very serious interest in supporting the educational needs of persons in our community. And as such it gives us great pleasure to be able to make the donation.”
Commenting that the pandemic has been unequal in its impact and widened the disparity between rich and poor, Mr. Julien noted that while some persons prospered, unfortunately, many were not able to leverage the opportunities that became available because they did not have the tools to learn. The pandemic, he noted, has highlighted the vulnerability of students, with many unable to get the tools needed for learning.
Receiving the computers on behalf of the Patricia D. James Secondary School was Vice Principal Peter Louisy. He expressed gratitude to the Republic Bank for partnering with the school and helping it execute its mandates to its students. He noted that “while the school has attempted to ensure that no child is left behind, we know that some of our students, because of their socioeconomic status, are not able to get the necessary tools, hence the donation will go a long way in enhancing our students’ learning.”
Reiterating Republic Bank’s vow to continue to assist communities, Country Manager Mr. Julien affirmed, “We take our corporate social responsibility very, very seriously. We have been involved in a number of activities in sports, in education and in the arts.”
Republic Bank will soon launch its Power to Make a Difference (PMAD) corporate social responsibility program as it looks to deepen its relationship with the community it serves.
Premier League Rights Awarded to VertiCast in the Caribbean
VertiCast Media Group Ltd. (VertiCast) has been awarded exclusive rights to broadcast the Premier League for the next three seasons starting in August 2022. The rights run until the end of the 2024-2025 season and cover the entire Caribbean region spanning 26 countries including Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and Jamaica – a market of over 44 million people.
The Premier League agreement with VertiCast is for rights to all 380 regular season
matches and highlights. The rights allow for broadcast on TV, cable, radio, mobile apps
and online platforms allowing VertiCast, and its partners, to provide full regional
coverage.
Undoubtedly the most-watched sports league in the region, some of the Premier
League’s major clubs are Caribbean favourites and typically have very strong broadcast
ratings. In a region that speaks three languages, football is the unifying language and
the Premier League the ultimate love.
“The Premier League is delighted to partner with VertiCast for the next three seasons,”
says Paul Molnar, Premier League Chief Media Officer. “We believe VertiCast is ideally
suited to show Premier League matches across the Caribbean and fans will benefit from
VertiCast’s broad distribution plan across multiple platforms. VertiCast will help us to
maximise reach and viewership and to further grow the Premier League fan-base in the
region.”
The new rights holder of the Premier League has committed to a broadcast plan that allows maximum reach to ensure it remains the most watched and most followed.
VertiCast President & CEO Oliver McIntosh explains that “Regional football fans will have unprecedented access to the Premier League games on an extensive variety of channels.”
For years, Premier League football has been available on premium services only, which VertiCast intends to change.
McIntosh adds that fans will have live access to all matches. “Having access to all the matches, as they happen in real time, is important to fans and important to us. We have full confidence that we will satisfy the Caribbean’s growing appetite for football as many who have not had access in the past will be able to watch their favourite Premier League teams”.
VertiCast will host Premier League events regionally, working with the Premier League to enhance the viewing experience for football fans.
The 2022/2023 EPL season kicks off August 6. Full details on broadcast channels and partners, programming and availability will be made available in the coming weeks.
As part of the activities commemorating of the 20th Anniversary of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market (ECSM), the 2nd in a series of Quarterly Public Education Discussions inclusive of a fun trivia competition, will take place on Wednesday 30th March from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. The topic will be ‘It’sTime to Invest’. The promotional poster is enclosed.
The media and public are invited to join the discussion by using the following zoom link: It’s Time to Invest Webinar Alternatively, you can choose to view live on the Facebook pages of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) and the various licensed Broker-Dealers across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.
The launch of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Market (ECSM), the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) and the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC) took place on 19th October 2001. To celebrate this milestone achievement, the ECSE partnered with the ECSRC and the brokerage community to hold several activities over the course of the year, under the theme ‘Celebrating 20 years of facilitating, protecting, and compounding the wealth of ECCU Citizens’. The celebration kicked off with a virtual ceremony held on the Anniversary Date on 19th October 2021. There was also a virtual Public Education Panel Discussion in November on the Topic ‘Who Says I can’t Be Wealthy’. Other activities planned during the year of celebrations include:
Additional Quarterly Public Education Webinars
Continuing Professional Development Sessions for Intermediaries
An Investing Competition based on the Stock Market Game
The second annual Barbados Risk & Insurance Management (BRIM) Conference, produced by BIBA, the Association for Global Business in Barbados, opens on the island on Monday.
Billed as a must-attend event on the global executive conference calendar, the two-day, in-person and virtually-streamed meeting will highlight “the enormous value of Barbados’ expanding captive insurance industry, the potential for further growth, emerging insurance risks, key economic and regulatory developments and digital advancements in insurance,” explained Carmel Haynes, BIBA’s Executive Director.
The summit, to be held at Hilton Barbados Resort, has attracted scores of delegates from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, who will gather to explore a variety of captive insurance management issues.
The first day will feature a keynote address from Oliver Jordan, the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Barbados’ supraregulatory agency for the insurance sector, mutual funds, securities, pension funds and the credit union sector. Tuesday’s keynote speaker will be Daniel Towle, President of the Captive Insurance Companies Association and former Director of Financial Services for the State of Vermont in the United States, one of the world’s premier jurisdictions for captives and other international insurance structures.
Reya Ali-Dabydeen, Partner and Banking & Insurance Sector Tax Lead for Ernst & Young in Canada, will lead discussions on tax developments impacting captives while also reviewing the most recent Canadian federal budget and its implications for global business in Barbados. Geneva-based Niel Harper, an international cybersecurity expert, will share his knowledge and experience about mitigating the impact of cyber risks and ransomware attacks.
Technology and the digital revolution’s impact on the insurance industry will also be spotlighted by New Zealand-based Klaas Stijnen, Co-CEO and Founder of global software company Montoux; while Robert Panza of CFC Underwriting in the United Kingdom will explore how the expansion of digital health care is changing traditional approaches to underwriting.
Jorge Carstensen, Managing Partner of Sophós Advisors, an independent advisory firm specializing in risk management and international insurance, will examine developments in Latin America; while Cyralene Benskin-Murray, General Counsel for Barbados’ FSC, will provide insight into the regulation of the Barbados insurance sector.
Kevin Hunte, Director of International Business in Barbados’ Ministry of Energy and Business Development, and Graeme Stoute, Acting International Tax Manager in the Global Relations Unit of the Barbados Revenue Authority’s Tax Audit and Compliance Division, will offer a tax and regulatory update focused on Country-by-Country Reporting, Economic Substance and the impending Global Minimum Corporate Tax. Charles van Oppen, co-owner and director of London-based risk management consultancy TBIAS, will look at how regulatory compliance can be a trigger to improve business resilience and efficiency.
Global and regional experts will also address issues such as ESG (environmental, social and governance factors) in business decision-making; changing risk-return dynamics of investing for captives; captive fundamentals in business planning; how the basics are changing when comparing past captive structures with today’s; the evolving business of pensions; and implementation of IFRS 17.
BRIM 2022 has secured the sponsorship of major players in the financial services sector, including RBC Dominion Securities Global Limited; USA Risk Group, Inc.; London & Capital; Strategic Risk Solutions; Clarity Life Insurance; Invest Barbados; Summit Asset Management; CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank; Sagicor Life Inc; Integrity Managers; C&W Business; PwC; DGM Captive Management Inc; and Darktrace.
For more information, contact the BIBA Secretariat at biba@biba.bb; +1 246 537-2422 or visit brim.biba.bb.
University of Health Sciences Antigua has donated a piano to Clare Hall Secondary in hopes of giving students who aspire to be music majors an opportunity to explore their passions and grow. The piano was originally gifted to the university by the family of Hon. Lounel Stevens who was a former Secretary to the Cabinet of Antigua. Since its beginnings, the piano has been an important part of student’s days and UHSA President Dr. Adedayo Akande is excited to pass this gift to others to ensure the support of Antigua’s youth.
“Much like the rest of the world, our island has experienced many difficulties during the past few years. However, music always brings joy and entertainment to any situation. This is no different. I hope that our donation can provide happiness, joy, and education of music in the classrooms for many generations of students to come.” Says Dr. Akande.
Clare Hall Secondary School in Saint John’s was opened in 1971 and has a vibrant academic community. Included in this are several extracurricular and vocational studies including a music program. When UHSA extended the offer of donating a piano, Clare Hall was excited about the opportunity and quickly built a relationship with the university.
The piano has already been delivered to Clare Hall Secondary School where students can begin using it for further enjoyment. For more information please contact marley.lumbard@otterpr.com or visit UHSA.ag.
To be held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, the CIF2022 is a high-level event that will attract high-net worth individuals and international businesses seeking investment opportunities in, among other sectors, AgTech, Hotel and Resort Development, Renewable Energy, Logistics and Transportation.
“The United Arab Emirates is a non-traditional source of investment for us in the Caribbean but one we can no-longer overlook. We need new sources of investment for these new times. Our aim for hosting the Caribbean Investment Forum in Dubai is to not only raise the profile of the Caribbean as a premier investment location but to present real investment opportunities to potential investors and financial institutions” shared Deodat Maharaj, Executive Director at Caribbean Export.
Caribbean countries provide strong foundations for businesses and boast outstanding track records for economic and political stability, openness to international trade and economic integration, making the region one of the lowest perceived risks in the Latin America and Caribbean market.
The Caribbean has great economic potential and diverse growth opportunities in emerging sectors such as high-end agriculture and the digital economy. A region with a long history as one of the world’s top tourist destinations, there are also a wealth of hotel and resort development opportunities available for the right investor, as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
GAIA should encounter less congestion due to new procedures being implemented.
Travellers arriving at the Grantley Adams International Airport should encounter less congestion due to new procedures being implemented there, namely the acceptance of a one-day Rapid Antigen test for entry, and the launch of version two of the online Embarkation/Disembarkation (ED) form.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, outlined the new procedures during a COVID-19 update today at Ilaro Court. She acknowledged that the previous requirement of a negative PCR test result for entry into the island posed difficulty for persons attempting to access the test in North America.
“Visitors coming from our primary source markets have expressed difficulties with being able to access the appropriate tests to enter Barbados. Barbadians, … returning home … have expressed difficulty, in particular coming out of the North American markets, in accessing the PCR tests required for Barbados,” she explained.
Senator Cummins noted that the Rapid Antigen Test was generally accepted as the test of choice by many other international markets, among them the United States and the United Kingdom.
She further explained that the difficulty experienced in identifying testing sites overseas for a PCR test led to the second issue, the congestion at Gates 14 – 16 on arrival in Barbados.
“Persons were found to have an unacceptable test and that resulted in retesting at Grantley Adams International Airport – GAIA at Gates 14 -16.
By transitioning under the direction of the EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) and the Ministry of Health to accepting Rapid Antigen as is done in countries all around the world, that immediately eases that challenge, and travellers can avoid now incurring the cost in some instances of accessing first of all, a PCR test and in some instances, having to repeat that test on more than one occasion. We’re very happy to be able to afford visitors that ease of entry to Barbados while maintaining the safety at our borders,” the Tourism Minister reported.
To further ease congestion, Senator Cummins said passengers would return to walking from their aircraft via the foot path from Gate 13 to nine through the Arrivals Hall at GAIA. However, travelers arriving at gates above number 13 would still have to use transportation. With regard to the updated online [Embarkation/Disembarkation] ED form, the Minister reported: “The new version two is being prepared. I believe that over the course of this weekend that draft is going to be presented to Mr. Abrams, Minister of Home Affairs for review.”
Signs CARICOM declaration to facilitate CARICOM Single ICT Space and Single Market and Economy
In a meaningful show of support to the CARICOM Heads of Government’s policy initiative to establish the CARICOM Single ICT Space in support of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Digicel Group and Cable & Wireless Communications this week signed a declaration to reduce intra-CARICOM roaming charges for citizens of CARICOM states.
In addition, the declaration signed by Digicel, Cable & Wireless Communications and CARICOM commits to;
advancing implementation of the fundamental elements of the Vision and Roadmap for a CARICOM Single ICT Space within the region;
moving towards a more harmonised regulatory environments in all CARICOM member states;
improving the overall customer experience by promoting greater regional connectivity
improving the ease of doing business in the telecommunications and ICT sector and developing policies that encourage investments, lessen the financial burden on operators and encourage reinvestment in the telecoms/ICT sector.
sharing professional studies concerning the taxation of OTTs and the potential regulatory framework for CARICOM telecom service providers for consultation on any policy prescriptions
Commenting on the landmark declaration, Digicel Group Government Relations Director, Kieran Mulvey, comments; “Today we create an example of what we can achieve by working together. This is a significant milestone in the roadmap towards achieving a Single ICT Caribbean Space. Digicel remains strongly committed to working with the Governments of the CARICOM to continue to invest in the critical telecom infrastructure to ensure Governments, citizens and businesses have access to the highest levels of modern communication technologies.”
He continues; “This declaration recognises the joint opportunities and challenges we face in advancing the goal and desire of us to collectively remove any impediments towards achieving a liberalised market and ensuring that all who avail of it contribute to the cost, most notably the OTTs like Facebook and WhatsApp.”
