Caddle: Countries should lead by example

Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle is calling for greater transparency and accountability in multilateral organisations in order for there to be a greater level of trust among countries in those institutions.

At the same time, Caddle has insisted that corruption should be rejected at all levels of society as individuals, companies and countries seek to develop and build wealth.

Pointing to the Barbados experience with blacklisting by the European Union (EU) and singling out the issue of climate change, the economist argued that “consumption and investment decisions” of larger nations continued to threaten the lives and livelihoods of small developing island states like those in the Caribbean.

Addressing the opening of the virtual World Bank Group’s Caribbean Conference on Corruption, Compliance and Cybercrime on Tuesday, she pointed to a decline in multilateralism and a rise in “great power rivalry”, despite threats being of a global nature.

She also reiterated a call for a review of how countries in the region were being assessed by multilateral agencies, pointing out that a GDP per capita method was an insufficient measure to assess a country’s needs and to determine a global framework for aid and financial cooperation.

“It is that the international community must trust the voices of the global south when we tell our stories and define our reality, when we describe our risks and vulnerability and when we offer robust frameworks for the world to understand,” she said.

Zeroing in on corruption, Caddle said: “The reason corruption in all its forms must be rejected is not only because it diverts resources from important investments especially in health and education . . . it is because it erodes the trust that is needed for real development cooperation to take place.

“So that even in the establishment of the very architecture and processes that drive the global anti-corruption agenda, there must be the transparency, accountability and level playing field that contribute to a global atmosphere of trust,” said Caddle.

Stating that Barbados and its regional counterparts were faced with “increasingly restrictive” trade rules that affect the competitiveness of the agriculture sector, Caddle said this had forced countries to develop their financial services sector to survive.

However, she complained that despite doing so in compliance with global standards, multilateral institutions continued to take certain actions against countries in the absence of communication and fair consultation.

Referring specifically to Barbados being placed on the EU’s blacklist earlier this year as a non-cooperative jurisdiction for tax purposes, Caddle said this was done despite the country making significant legislative amendments and completing comprehensive reforms to combat anti-money laundering.

“Surely, a commitment to the transparency the international community is calling on countries to provide, would require that same transparency in for example, the EU’s process and methodology for listing under the AML rules,” said Caddle.

Pointing out that this development came even as Barbados continued to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic, Caddle suggested that it had the ability to devastate the economy and affect the country’s ability to adequately protect against the pandemic.

“For that survival it requires not just health and medical solutions to the pandemic, but global financial solutions that ringfence COVID-related debt, and refinance it over a longer repayment period. This is the only way in which this health and financial crisis will not lead to a lasting debt crisis. So that survival and trust go hand-in-hand,” she said.

Stating that integrity was not a partisan matter that should be “picked up and set down when it does or does not suit”, Caddle said it required businesses, individuals and governments to play a role in stomping out corruption.

“All individuals must reject any undeserving or improper benefits they may sometimes receive as a result of a system that lacks transparency or fairness and we must be willing to part with those benefits. Corruption must find no safe harbour, not in high office nor in narrow streets,” said Caddle.

“One of the ways to foster that broad rejection of corruption is by establishing sound mechanisms for people to access public office and government services,” she said, as she highlighted ongoing work by government to modernize the public sector to improve the doing business climate and create greater transparency especially as it relates to procurement procedures.

Caddle also used the forum to warn that as countries target compliance especially in the financial services sector, they should be careful not to sacrifice the financial inclusion of residents, and that multilateral banks, central banks and other development and financial institutions should “lead by example”.

She said: “If we are not careful burdensome compliance requirements externally imposed will erode our own investment for small nations in competitiveness. These conversations must confront those inconvenient truths and must begin to offer some solutions for our small countries.” (MM)