The Service Economy

Abstract

The erosion of preferential treatment for traditional exports and the anemic performance of nontraditional exports suggest that the road to the future goes through tourism and financial services. The smaller Caribbean economies, having abandoned their agriculture and having failed at nontraditional manufacturing, are gravitating toward information technology and financial services as the hope of the future.

In the area of Expanding Economic Opportunities, there is now a much better understanding and appreciation by the USA on the urgency of the steps that are required to expand the economic opportunities for the Caribbean people. There is also much better understanding and appreciation of the efforts being made on the part of the Caribbean to expand the service sector, in particular the international financial service sector as a prerequisite for economic diversification and enhanced competitiveness.

Excerpt from closing remarks by the Honorable Dr. Denzil Douglas, prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis at the “Conference on the Caribbean: A 2020 Vision,” Washington DC, June 21, 2007.