The first Wilton Park Caribbean 2030 meeting of almost 40 younger leaders from across the Caribbean took place in the UK in June 2015. The young leaders identified their visions for the future direction for the region.
The key issues outlined in that report will form the basis of this second follow-up meeting which will take place in the Caribbean. Bringing together many of the original group from the region, with a few additional experts, the group will focus on the next steps for the region, specifically focusing on one overarching theme identified in June: Innovation and entrepreneurship and how to achieve this for the region.
In June 2015 the group concluded that the challenges facing the Caribbean region – growth, security, fiscal management, amongst others – are stronger than ever, even while new ones, like climate change, emerge. At the same time, weaknesses in the governance in the region and the limited effectiveness of both public and private leadership have become increasingly exposed.
This follow-up meeting will focus on specific questions and identify the next steps that are needed and how the next generation of leadership can lead the necessary follow-up actions to embrace and affect a new vision of the Caribbean.
Objectives
This Forum builds on the first meeting of this group and aims to:
- Enable this group of new and next generation Caribbean leaders to turn their aspirations into actions;
- Focus on specific issues, primarily economic-related, that will enable the region to prosper;
- Bring people together from different countries and sectors, sharing cross-region expertise and ideas in shaping their future;
- Provide a neutral and residential setting for them to meet together and support their network;
- Provide an opportunity to link the group to the UK and other key external stakeholders who they might not otherwise have access to.
Outcomes
- Agreed next steps for action on the pre-identified themes, owner-led;
- Strengthened network of this group of younger leaders in the Caribbean who will be encouraged to stay connected and work together in the coming decade linked to UK and other key external stakeholders;
- A short report summarising key conclusions from the discussions on a non-attributable basis. We will also work with partners to transmit lessons more widely.
