Brits, Scots explore business opportunities in Barbados

Twenty-one delegates from Scotland and the United Kingdom (UK) are visiting Barbados to explore business and investment opportunities.

The representatives from a range of businesses in various sectors are on the island for the five-day Trade and Investment Mission – Scotland to Barbados 2023 initiative.

The programme, in its fourth year, is a networking and business development opportunity for entrepreneurs and companies abroad to visit the island to see how they could deepen their business with Barbados, establish branches here, or partner with existing businesses to expand their offerings.

The programme is organised by Invest Barbados, Renfrewshire Business Network and the UK Department for Business and Trade.

During a ceremony at the Crane Resort in St Philip on Tuesday, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Business Development Sandra Husbands said that despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and international conflicts, Barbados was a resilient Small Island Developing State with a noteworthy business environment.

“Our goal is to safeguard and preserve Barbados’ long-standing reputation as a credible and compliant global financial centre where investors such as yourselves can unreservedly establish and expand your business operations and realise a desirable return on your investment. We want to be able to create an environment of mutual benefit that Barbados prospers as you prosper. I am therefore confident that your time spent in Barbados will be fruitful as you explore the various trade and investment opportunities,” she told the delegates.

“At the macro level, the Barbados government has remained steadfast in its drive to enhance the business climate primarily through digitisation across the public sector and the streamlining of processes for local and overseas entities seeking to conduct business here…. We are currently working on an electronic single window to execute business. We hope to have that completed very soon so that we will be able to offer you the best business climate in which you can quickly transact your business, you can quickly get responses and therefore be able to be nimble in establishing yourself and working from Barbados.”

While noting that some of these industries were being impacted by international tensions, Husbands said Barbados remained an island of bright prospects.

“We have emerged and withstood recent global occurrences, commencing with the COVID-19 pandemic. All of us have suffered and we’ve had to readjust to what COVID-19 has meant for all of us. There have been physical and economic lockdowns, economies have been stalling. Then we were faced with the war between Russia and Ukraine and now more recently between Israel and Palestine. And this has led to a lot of supply chain disruptions, inflation and rising oil prices. So adjustment is going to be the name of the game for all of us. Barbados, however, has remained resilient with each difficulty.

“I remain confident in saying the prospects are bright and this portends well for Barbados,” she said.

Husbands also disclosed that Barbados will soon be establishing an embassy in Ireland.

Deputy British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Charley Williams said initiatives like the current trade and investment mission augur well for the long-standing relationship between Barbados and the UK. (SZB)