Development Strategy Assessment of the Eastern Caribbean

Development Strategy Assessment of the Eastern Caribbean

Eastern Caribbean countries enjoy rich natural endowments and have achieved significant economic development. Throughout the last decades, they have also been confronted with a number of rising economic, social and environmental challenges.

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: OECD (-)
Autor Corporativo: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, author, issuing body (author)
Formato: Libro electrónico
Idioma:Inglés
Publicado: Paris : Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development 2022.
Edición:1st ed
Colección:OECD development pathways.
Materias:
Public administration.
Ecology.
Ver en Biblioteca Universitat Ramon Llull:https://discovery.url.edu/permalink/34CSUC_URL/1im36ta/alma991009704801306719
Tabla de Contenidos:
  • Intro
  • Foreword
  • Acknowledgements
  • Abbreviations and acronyms
  • Executive summary
  • Investing in renewable energy and strengthening regulation, the business environment and the financial sector would support sustainable growth in the OECS region
  • Opportunities for the OECS region lie in boosting value-added in tourism, expanding digital services and promoting the sustainable ocean economy and agriculture
  • Closing the skills gap, enhancing the quality of education and improving social protection are essential measures for fostering economic and social development in the OECS region
  • More effective policy implementation constitutes the backbone to ensure the success of reforms fostering economic and social development in the OECS
  • 1 Overview
  • 1.1. A brief history of development in the OECS region
  • 1.2. Future trends
  • 1.2.1. Climate change and more frequent and intense natural disasters
  • 1.2.2. Rapid population ageing
  • 1.2.3. Migration
  • 1.2.4. Digitalisation
  • 1.3. The OECS Development Strategy 2019-28
  • 1.4. Strategic priorities
  • 1.4.1. Investment in renewables, telecommunications reform and e-government could foster productivity improvements
  • 1.4.2. Closing the skills gap, enhancing the quality of education, and better health outcomes through NCD prevention measures and universal healthcare could strengthen human capital in the OECS region
  • 1.4.3. Resilience to natural disasters is a foundation of sustainable development in the OECS region
  • 1.4.4. Economic opportunities for OECS countries exist in tourism, digital services, the sustainable ocean economy and agriculture
  • 1.4.5. Policy implementation and regional integration
  • References
  • 2 Generating economic growth
  • 2.1. Tourism value-added could be boosted through sourcing more from the local economy and developing new tourism segments.
  • 2.1.1. Value-added can be boosted through the sale of local products to hotels and cruise-ship passengers
  • 2.1.2. New tourist segments can be leveraged to attract visitors for longer stays
  • 2.1.3. Tourism markets should be expanded to build resilience to shocks in source markets
  • 2.1.4. Training programmes and certifications could help to strengthen the quality of services
  • 2.2. OECS countries' large tourism sectors open up opportunities to further expand the orange economy in the region
  • 2.3. Investment in technology and efficiency-enhancing reforms could revitalise agricultural and fishing sectors in the OECS region and facilitate import substitution
  • 2.3.1. Agriculture is in decline in most OECS countries
  • 2.3.2. Technological upgrades and farmers' organisations could open up new opportunities in food processing and sales to the tourism industry
  • 2.3.3. Attracting more young people into agriculture and reducing government involvement, could make agricultural sectors in the OECS region more dynamic
  • 2.3.4. Land reform could improve access to credit and enhance private investment in agriculture
  • 2.3.5. The production of higher quality fish products and fish processing could allow OECS countries to substitute part of their fish imports with local production
  • 2.3.6. Aquaculture and sea products offer further opportunities for the OECS region
  • 2.4. Reform of the telecommunications sector and enhanced regional integration in cybersecurity and digital skills, could facilitate the expansion of digital services
  • 2.5. A competition framework for the OECS region could enhance consumer welfare and promote economic growth
  • 2.6. Strengthening financial-sector infrastructure, reducing NPLs, and reforming development banks could improve access to finance for private businesses.
  • 2.6.1. High levels of NPLs, a large amount of personal loans and mortgages, and development banks, which reflect the loan portfolios of commercial banks, hamper access to credit in the OECS region
  • 2.6.2. Strengthening financial-sector infrastructure, reforming national development banks, and building up a regional venture capital fund could improve access to finance
  • 2.7. Reducing bureaucracy and business costs could facilitate more private investment in the OECS region and boost productivity
  • 2.7.1. E-government could reduce red tape
  • 2.7.2. The development of renewable energy could reduce high energy costs
  • 2.7.3. A regional fast-ferry service, and better organisation of existing intra-regional maritime transport, could improve intra-regional connectivity and reduce transport costs
  • 2.8. Debt consolidation through prudent public expenditure and debt for climate swaps
  • 2.8.1. Debt for climate swaps could help OECS countries reduce their external debt burden
  • References
  • 3 Promoting human and social well-being
  • 3.1. Limited economic opportunities and structural challenges are contributing to persistently high levels of unemployment in parts of the OECS region
  • 3.2. Expanding social protection systems in the OECS region could reduce poverty and tackle inequality concerns
  • 3.2.1. Despite progress in poverty reduction, poverty rates and inequality remain relatively high in the region, given levels of income per capita
  • 3.2.2. While coverage varies from country to country, there is scope to expand social protection systems in all the OECS member states
  • 3.2.3. OECS countries require strategies to expand spending on social protection and healthcare systems
  • 3.3. Policies for prevention, early detection, and tackling risk factors are essential to deal effectively with NCDs in the OECS region.
  • 3.3.1. OECS countries have improved health outcomes but a relatively high prevalence of NCDs is a challenge in the region
  • 3.3.2. Prevention through awareness raising, legislation and regulation, and policies to encourage more physical activity could reduce the prevalence of NCDs in the OECS region
  • 3.4. Boosting human capital in the OECS region requires improvements in the quality of education, and a closing of the skills gap
  • 3.4.1. OECS countries perform well in terms of access to formal education, but quality remains a challenge
  • 3.4.2. More and better-trained teachers, and the development of high-quality foundation skills, could enhance the quality of formal education in the OECS region
  • 3.4.3. The public pre-primary education offer could be expanded in the region
  • 3.4.4. Tertiary education in the OECS region could be expanded with the support of private financing
  • 3.4.5. A skills mismatch, and skills shortages, limit private investment and job creation in the OECS region
  • 3.4.6. OECS countries require better information on the skills that are in demand on the labour market
  • 3.4.7. A larger and better offering of vocational, tertiary and adult education could close the skills gap in the OECS region
  • 3.5. High levels of crime in the region could be reduced through crime prevention among young people, a better tertiary education offer, and a strengthened judicial system and police force
  • Notes
  • References
  • 4 The sustainable use of natural endowments
  • 4.1. The development of renewable energy facilitated by regional co-operation could reduce the cost of energy
  • 4.1.1. Scaling up renewables in the OECS region requires strong political will, and a strategic vision.
  • 4.1.2. Creating adequate enabling conditions for renewables in the OECS region involves reforming energy-sector regulatory frameworks, and securing sufficient financial resources
  • 4.1.3. Opportunities for economies of scale through regional collaboration exist in energy-sector regulation, geothermal energy, and in the training of skilled technicians
  • 4.2. OECS countries' location and rich ocean biodiversity open up opportunities in the sustainable ocean economy
  • 4.3. Developing resilience toward natural disasters is a key policy priority in the OECS
  • 4.4. Waste management in the OECS region could be improved through increased recycling and better plastic regulations
  • 4.4.1. Opportunities for better waste management exist in a broadening of recycling strategies, and in exploiting landfills for energy
  • 4.1.1. High levels of plastic use in the OECS could be reduced by extending plastic bans to include more single-use products
  • Notes
  • References
  • 5 Strengthening implementation
  • 5.1. Effective policy implementation requires good data, strong, non-partisan institutions and constructive engagement with all concerned
  • 5.2. The regional strategy scorecard developed by the OECD Development Centre, OECS Commission and member states is a tool to support the effective implementation of policy in the OECS region
  • References
  • Annex 5.A. Scorecard tables.

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