The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (GoSVG) is hosting the inaugural United Kingdom (UK)-Caribbean Infrastructure Conference from today (Monday) to Friday at the Beachcombers Hotel.
The event, themed “Building Resilience for All”, is being coordinated by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in conjunction with the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the GoSVG.
The conference brings together infrastructure practitioners on projects funded by the UK through the FCDO across the region and connects them with expertise to examine strategies and opportunities for improving and enhancing knowledge and impact in the area.
The intent is to capture valuable lessons from the projects and the current UKCIF programme under implementation by the CDB, to inform the design of future infrastructure projects in the region, build the regional capacity and thereby increase the development outcomes and extend the sustainability of ongoing investment in Caribbean Infrastructure.
The conference will begin at 9 a.m. with an official opening ceremony featuring remarks by the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology Camillo Gonsalves, with President of the CDB, Gene Leon; and the UK’s Minister of State Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell.
The first working session of the conference would include a panel discussion under the theme, “Building Inclusive Safe Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure in the Caribbean – What have we learnt?” The discussion is expected to bring to the fore a wide range of experiences and perspectives from a diverse group of practitioners working in the region.
The conference will feature workshops to examine various topics such as youth and women in construction, disability inclusive infrastructure and the human and environmental side of infrastructure implementation.