Prime Minister Assures Barbados Fully Open For Business

Barbados is fully open for business!

This clear message came from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley recently, as she delivered remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Kooyman Barbados, at its construction site at Kendal Hill, Christ Church.

Ms. Mottley indicated that the country was presently on the right road. "That right road means attracting persons, both domestically and from outside, to invest because they believe that investment will attract the return and that return on investment will come because of the country's political, economic and social stability combined to create the platform for growth.

She said investments such as the Kooyman Megastore and Ross University were some of the counterbalances government wanted to see more of, as the country currently undergoes an IMF programme and an economic recovery and transformation programme.

"... A lot of the smaller investments that are taking place in the country don't necessarily reach the newspaper, but if you look around the country and look at the Town Planning applications and the approvals, you begin to see...that both Barbadians and foreigners believe that we can do it," she stated.

Ms. Mottley pointed out that in the past, government played a role by fueling capital projects on its own, but that now had to be balanced by private sector activity. She noted that the private sector was not only driven by foreign capital, but it also had to be driven by local capital.

"There is excess liquidity in this economy, and next Wednesday [Budget Day] when I speak to you, I hope to speak at length about where we are going and what are the other things we want to energise in order to ensure Barbadians can use their own savings to help transform this country, and to fuel the level of capital projects that are necessary, not only to create the jobs, but to earn and to save...foreign...