Blue economy has potential to propel Barbados forward

Excerpt from loopnewsbarbados.com

Barbados’ blue economy should be seen as an economic driver that can contribute to job creation and new technological advancements going forward.

These were among the findings of a Blue Economy Scoping Study conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) over a six-month period.

Speaking during the virtual handing over of the report recently, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey, thanked the international agency for the rapid assessment study, which was designed to determine the key active blue sectors in Barbados.

According to the study, the blue economy is an integration of sustainable development and new growth. Its key findings focused on five key ocean-based activities which were highlighted as being most beneficial for the country.

These are tourism and leisure; harvesting of marine living resources, including fisheries; the ports and shipping; the extraction of non-living resources and energy generation, and ocean health and ecosystem services.

The report also noted that prior to COVID-19, the key economic activity relevant to the blue economy was tourism, which directly contributed to 12.9 per cent of the island’s gross domestic product and accounted for 62.1 per cent of its exports.

However, Minister Humphrey noted that when it came to investments in the blue economy, it was “extremely expensive” for small island developing states.

“I heard that there is money around, but accessing those resources is extremely difficult for small island developing states. You are in competition with the Pacific, you are in competition with Africa, and we all need the resources, but oftentimes Caribbean islands are not the ones coming out successful in these projects,” he pointed out.