A Roadmap for the Region: Can the OECS’ Development Strategy deliver?

A decade is a long time in the life of a region. Advances in technology, shifting global trade alliances, economic peaks and pitfalls, fluctuating social demographics — there’s a lot to consider, and a lot to plan for. But that’s the mission of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) which recently launched its draft OECS Development Strategy, a roadmap charting the development of all members of the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union (ECEU) until 2028.

The Caribbean is awash in development plans. Every regional body from CARICOM to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has been drawing up decades-long strategies since their inception. These documents are a valuable tool for policymakers and are necessary to understand the depth of the issues; but despite reams of time, effort and expense dedicated to their creation, the central obstacles dogging the region remain. Persistent problems such as poor GDP growth, high unemployment and rising public debt are still affecting the lives of average Caribbean citizens, many of whom are struggling to make a living as the lofty goals of all these plans fail to trickle down into daily life.

So what makes the OECS Development Strategy (ODS) different? Can it deliver on its ambitious targets as it aims to boost annual growth by 3-5 per cent and reduce unemployment by 25 per cent? Assessing its chances of success requires a closer look at the plan in-depth.

Generating economic growth

The ODS, which is currently open for feedback and consultation as the OECS kicks off a public awareness campaign throughout the region, tackles three pillars of Caribbean life: economic growth, social wellbeing and natural resources. 

GDP has been in a slump across all Eastern Caribbean States since the 1990s. Decline in exports, coupled with falling Foreign Direct Investment and high public sector debt, has not only harmed GDP but had a knock-on effect on the workforce, leading to climbing unemployment figures.

The ODS proposes a number of ways to redress the balance including more oversight of public debt, reviewing access to credit, increasing domestic private sector investment, developing risk management infrastructure to support the financial sector and supporting the consolidation of national banks.

The OECS economy is largely dependent on tourism, but it is also supported by offshore financial services, agriculture and manufacturing. To boost tourism, the OECS wants to see better transportation networks across the region, an OECS-wide tourism marketing strategy and new initiatives to better target niche markets such as diving, health and wellness, and sports. In terms of agriculture and manufacturing, the ODS advises expanding markets by leveraging links with the tourism sector and enhancing support to SMEs and small vendors.

Promoting human and social wellbeing

Economic growth must go hand in hand with societal development. A prosperous population is also a healthy population but this is another area where the Caribbean is lagging. Saint Lucia was recently named the second unhealthiest country in the world by the Indigo Wellness Index, and its poor performance is not an outlier in the region which has high rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. There are also worryingly high levels of alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, crime and violence.

The ODS aims to improve access to social services, reform the justice sector, modernise the police force, increase opportunities in tertiary education and review healthcare services with an emphasis on early intervention, promoting affordable care and building a resilient health infrastructure.

Sustainable use of natural endowments

The final link in the chain for the ODS is the Caribbean’s natural resources, the fate of which is directly tied to social wellbeing and sustainable economic growth. Rising sea levels and intensifying weather events are an ongoing threat to the islands.

Solutions outlined in the ODS include seeking external support to fund environmental agendas, encouraging innovation and use of technology, investing in renewable energy resources and devising a community-based disaster risk management plan. It also looks at chemical, waste and pollution management, calling for this to be implemented into national development planning and for countries to look at new technologies in waste disposal.

Make your voice heard

At first glance, the ODS seems like a plan for a plan. Many of the action points in the strategy involve drawing up further strategies, establishing frameworks, plotting agendas and making recommendations — heaping bureaucracy on top of bureaucracy. The institutional wheels turn slowly and it’s doubtful that the results of the ODS will be seen (or felt) any time soon. In addition, a plan is only as good as the governments, agencies and institutions implementing it. Rather than handed down from on high, development strategies must be built in to the public sector culture from the ground up. 

Allister Mounsey, Macroeconomic Programme Specialist in the Economic Development and Policy Unit at the OECS Commission says: “In the OECS there is a long history of working together; we have been doing so for nearly forty years. The implementation of the Strategy will benefit from these existing systems as well as a specific focal point system that will be established to ensure appropriate attention is provided to the components of the Strategy that are to be implemented nationally.”

The progress of the ODS will be monitored, with Ministerial Councils receiving annual reports and its first full-scale review taking place three years into its implementation. Mounsey concedes that it will not be an easy road, saying: “The main challenge is sustaining energy and interest in the Strategy. Development work results are sometimes slow in manifesting themselves; this leaves room for doubt and a softening of commitment. As the future unfolds, some assumptions about conditions beyond our control may prove inaccurate [and] this is one of the reasons why all long-term strategies are subject to periodic review.”

In the meantime, the OECS is keen for the region to have its say. The public is invited to comment via the OECS Facebook page and OECS website where users can fill out a detailed feedback form. Participants can submit their feedback anonymously and all comments will be taken into account as the final plan is rolled out. “Feedback has been great, overwhelmingly positive,” says Mounsey. “Some persons have suggested areas that greater focus can be placed on. We are taking note of these and hope to address them in the implementation plan that will follow once the strategy is approved.

“The feedback facility will be open even after the document is finalised. It will certainly be available at least until the end of the year. These comments and/or suggestions can influence the implementation. The opinions of stakeholders still remain important as
we move towards concrete actions.”