CDB president calls for stronger institutions to drive Caribbean resilience

Jun 20, 2025 News

Kaieteur News – At a defining moment for the region, President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Best, underscored the urgent need to build stronger, more adaptive institutions to help Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) withstand global disruptions and shape their own development future.

Delivering his inaugural address at the 55th Annual Meeting of the CDB Board of Governors on June 11 in Brasília, President Best shared that “Resilience, in today’s world, means empowering institutions to adapt in real-time to an increasingly uncertain global landscape, shaped by geopolitical fragmentation, shifting international policies, and economic shocks. These forces demand that we protect and support our institutions, not just as safeguards, but as the mechanisms that enable us to have a seat at the table, a voice in defining our future, and control over our destiny.”

The President pointed to recent achievements to strengthen the Bank’s presence in the region, including the launch of the US$58.5 million SuRGE Programme, a just energy transition initiative supported by Canada, and a significant increase in the Bank’s Green Climate Fund accreditation—from US$50 million to US$250 million—unlocking new resources for climate adaptation and resilience. The Bank is also advancing innovations under its Balance Sheet Optimisation Framework to expand lending capacity, and a recent Exposure Exchange Agreement with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) will unlock additional resources for the region’s sustainable development agenda.

Framed by the Annual Meeting’s theme, “Building the Future: Resilient Institutions for a Greener, Stronger, and Inclusive Caribbean,” the President’s address also outlined a bold, forward-looking vision for reshaping the region’s development trajectory. At the core of this vision is what he described as the “Rebirth of the Bank”, a transformation of CDB itself into a more agile, responsive, and catalytic institution capable of tackling the Caribbean’s most urgent challenges.

President Best revealed that consistent with his vision, the Bank is working on a new 10-year Strategic Plan that will guide CDB’s priorities in the near and medium term. The forthcoming plan will redefine the region’s development path, with key priorities including:

Embedding climate resilience as a cornerstone of security and prosperity.
Incentivising sustainable governance through smart fiscal reform.
Leveraging digital infrastructure for inclusive economic growth.
Making gender equality and social inclusion pillars of progress.
Unlocking the private sector’s full potential as a partner in development.

The CDB’s 55th Annual Meeting concluded on June 12, 2025. Discussions this week have underscored the Bank’s commitment to bold, future-oriented action that responds to the needs of its Borrowing Member Countries.

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Borrowing Member Countries, Caribbean Development Bank, Daniel Best, global disruptions

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