Cummins: Cut Caribbean shipping time, double trade by 2035

Energy and Business Minister Senator Lisa Cummins is urging local and regional businesses to lead the charge in doubling intra-regional trade by 2035, warning that rising logistics costs and ongoing shipping delays are hurting Caribbean economies.

Speaking at the opening of the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association’s International Business Conference on Thursday, Cummins said the region is stuck in a global logistics system not designed for its benefit, and it is Caribbean businesses and consumers who are paying the price.

“We are simply, collectively, as a people, paying too much, waiting too long, and depending too heavily on everyone else,” she told delegates at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. “Where some see crisis, we must see opportunity. Disruption is not our enemy. Inaction is.”

Cummins urged the business sector to invest in regional logistics, push for improved port efficiency, and rethink long-standing trade routes that leave the region vulnerable to global shocks.

She laid out several key targets, including a 25 per cent reduction in average shipping times and ensuring that no Caribbean country is more than three days from essential food supplies.

“This is not just about moving goods. This is about regional security, consumer costs, and the survival of our industries,” she said.

Highlighting the region’s $5 billion food import bill and soaring container costs during recent crises, Cummins cautioned that existing systems expose the Caribbean to serious economic risk.

She referenced a Barbadian entrepreneur whose eco-friendly food business stalled after imported packaging materials were delayed at the port for over a month, calling the instance “unfortunate” and “unacceptable.”

Cummins also pointed to inefficiencies in port clearance and customs procedures that continue to drive up prices and frustrate manufacturers.

“When documents sit on desks for longer than they should, we all pay— not just businesses, but the mother in the supermarket and the small farmer trying to restock,” she said.

Barbados, she added, has already begun implementing systems like the Maritime Single Window, the Electronic Single Window, and the Port Community System to help digitise and streamline port operations.

She also called for harmonisation of customs procedures across the region to improve predictability in the movement of goods, but noted that the responsibility could not fall to governments alone.

“This is not just a government responsibility. This is a joint effort. As governments, we must move to align policies, harmonise customs, and enable multimodal hubs,” she said.

“As investors, you need to finance the infrastructure and tech platforms of tomorrow. Our development banks and commercial banks must shift from risk-averse lending to catalytic investment.

“Private sector leaders, I’m calling on you to scale up regional logistics services and export capacity. And citizens of Barbados and our region, I’m calling on you to support a new model of regional production and regional integration.”

Cummins further pressed the business sector to diversify its trading routes.

“We are currently over-dependent on single trade partners, on pre-existing long-determined shipping routes, on long-established trans-shipment hubs. We import 80 per cent of our food, and our regional trade barely accounts for 15 per cent of total exports,” she said.

“I throw out the challenge to the business community. Right here in the region, we have partners such as Suriname, Guyana, Latin America [and] Brazil. We need to diversify our trade routes. This is one of my calls to action.”

The two-day conference, hosted by the BMA under the theme, Our Global Village, brought together manufacturers, exporters, investors, and regional officials to explore how the Caribbean can reposition itself in a changing global economy.

Cummins ended her address with a call for deeper collaboration across the region, reiterating that fragmented approaches will not deliver the outcomes needed: “When we stand together, we move markets. But if we stay disconnected, we will continue to be bypassed by a world that is moving ahead.” (SM)