Business Unusual: Recalibrating Business and National Strategies for Economic Growth and Investment Creation

Monday, June 15, 2020 — The OECS Commission will host the Sustainable Development Movement (SDM) Summit under the theme: ​ Create. Invest. Deliver. Scale on September 23-24, 2020. ​ The Summit will create a space in which Development Partners, the Private Sector, Civil Society, Academia, Caribbean Governments, and individuals meet and exchange best practices and strategies concerning innovative sustainable growth and development of SIDS. SDM 2020 is positioned to cover 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Within the context of SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), it will become necessary to explore innovations necessary to stimulate business and economic growth on national, regional, and global levels given the current onslaught of COVID-19 on the economic and business ecosystems in SIDS. In this regard, the “Business Unusual – Recalibrating Business and National Strategies for Economic Growth and Investment Creation” Webinar is the second in a series of webinars being executed to create awareness about SDM 2020.

This webinar will address the following key questions:

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Join us on Wednesday June 17, 2020!

Event: Business Unusual - Recalibrating National & Business Strategies for Economic Growth & Investment Creation

Date: June 17, 2020

Time: 10 am EST

Zoom Registration Link: https://bit.ly/BusinessUnusualPMMiaMottley

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The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P., became Barbados' eighth and first female Prime Minister on May 25, 2018 and currently serves as the Chair of CARICOM. ​ Ms. Mottley was elected to the Parliament of Barbados in September 1994 as part of the new Barbados Labour Party Government. ​ Prior to that, she served as one of two Opposition Senators between 1991 and 1994. One of the youngest persons ever to be assigned a ministerial portfolio, Ms. Mottley was appointed Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture from 1994 to 2001. ​ She later served as Attorney General and Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados from 2001 to 2008 and was the first female to hold that position. ​ Ms. Mottley is an Attorney-at-law with a degree from the London School of Economics, specialising in advocacy. She is also a Barrister of the Bar of England and Wales.

Dr. the Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit has been the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica since 2004, re-appointed in 2005, 2009, and 2014. Regionally. Skerrit, as Prime Minister, has graduated to the forefront of Caribbean leadership, serving as Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) during periods of historic fiscal and economic challenges faced by the region and the world: high debt, high unemployment, low growth, and high deficits. He has contributed to the formulation of the eight-point stabilization programme of the OECS. He is the Political Leader of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP). ​

Prime Minister Skerrit has earned an international reputation for his national and regional leadership along with his hands-on and sincere approach to international affairs. He is now a frequent lecturer at all levels. Lectures include The David Thompson Memorial Lecture: Future of CARICOM and Regional Integration at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados in 2011. He was Keynote speaker at the 2013 Annual Meeting of Eco-Forum Global in the People’s Republic of China and most recently he was the keynote speaker at a lecture dubbed, “Grenada Revolution and the Current Foreign Policy Challenges of Small Island States”. This lecture was presented on March 16, 2015 at the Trade Centre in Grand Anse, Grenada. 

Tahseen Sayed is the World Bank Country Director for Caribbean countries. Ms. Sayed, a Pakistani national, is responsible for maintaining a solid partnership with the countries to address their development and financial challenges. Prior to this, she has served in management positions in Europe and Central Asia Region, and the South Asia Region of the World Bank. ​ Ms. Sayed is a seasoned development professional with over 20 years of operational and leadership experience at the World Bank. She has a deep knowledge of Bank policies and instruments, country programs and a track record of strong delivery and innovation. She has demonstrated skills in client engagement and fostering partnerships. Her pre-Bank experience includes assignments in North America and the Middle East Region. ​ She holds a Master's degree in Law and Diplomacy specializing in Development Studies from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, USA.

Audrey Richards is a Consultant with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), with responsibility for the development of the ecosystem for private equity and venture capital in Jamaica, as well as a number of key projects aimed at the development of the local early-stage and entrepreneurship ecosystem. ​ Mrs. Richards has been involved, in several capacities, in the Jamaican capital markets for more than twenty-eight years, and currently serves as a Director on the boards of Scotia Group Jamaica Limited, BNS Jamaica Limited, Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited, and is Chairman of the Board of Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance Company Limited. ​ 

Mrs. Richards is passionate about organizational building, financial market policy development and implementation, and has been involved in a number of market developmental initiatives for the private and public sectors. ​ She has consulted, locally, for institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Bank of Jamaica, Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), and the Financial Services Commission, and is a foundation member of the JSE Best Practices Committee. She was previously CEO for Edward Gayle and Company Limited (now NCB Capital Markets), and is a former Deputy Chairman of the JSE Council and Director of the National Housing Trust. ​ Mrs. Richards holds a MBA (Finance) from the De Groote Graduate School of Business, McMaster University, Canada, and a B.Sc. (Special Chemistry) from the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Jacqueline Emmanuel-Flood continues her more than twenty years of servitude and investment towards the development of the business and trade landscape in Saint Lucia. She is an expert in Development Planning, Project Development, Investment Analysis, Finance and Trade Promotion. Jacqueline is currently on the Board of Directors for the CARICOM Development Fund and also serves as the Director of Economic Affairs and Regional Integration at the OECS Commission. ​ In her former role as Director of the Office of the Private Sector Relations (OPSR), she spearheaded Saint Lucia’s National Export Development Strategy. To add to her exemplary track record of leading roles, Jacqueline acted in the capacity of Executive Director for the Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture; General Manager at the National Development Corporation; Senior Economist at the Ministry of Planning, Establishment and Training; and part-time Lecturer in Business Administration for the University of the West Indies Distant Learning Programme. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Barbados, and a master’s degree in Project Analysis, Finance and Investment from the University of York, in the United Kingdom.

Sade Jemmott is a Barbados-qualified Attorney-at-Law and Certified Trust & Estate Practitioner. Prior to assuming her current roles as General Counsel and Company Secretary with Bitt, she specialized in International Business at the pan-Caribbean law firm Lex Caribbean, where she advised international corporations and financial institutions in relation to multi-jurisdictional corporate, commercial and financing transactions. Ms. Jemmott has served as CARICOM Youth Ambassador (CYA) to Barbados, Vice Dean of Regional Initiatives in the CYA Corps, Global Shaper in the Bridgetown Hub and an active member of the Barbados International Business Association. ​ She is also a Director of the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation and their representative on the National Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Steering Committee and MSME Institutional Framework Sub-Committee. Having already earned a Master of Laws in International Commercial Law at University College London (UCL) as a Chevening Scholar, Ms. Jemmott recently completed a Master of Science in Integration Studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, with special emphasis on international trade in goods and services, regional integration and development. Drawing on both her professional and academic exposure, Ms. Jemmott is responsible for managing the execution and coordination of the legal and regulatory affairs of the Bitt group of companies.

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SDM Secretariat | OECS Commission

Castries, Saint Lucia

• sdm@oecs.int
• +1 758-455-6370/6354

• oecssdm.com