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Antigua and Barbuda

Caribbean tourism has been showing signs of recovery in 2011, following two of the toughest years on record. But while international arrivals have been improving and returning to 2008 levels, visitors have been spending less in a market leading to worries about the sector’s diminishing profits in a still unpredictable global environment.   Tourism in the Caribbean is the region's...
A five-year EU-funded programme is helping to prevent blindness in some of the poorer countries of the Caribbean region; Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and St. Lucia. It is being coordinated by the United Kingdom based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Sightsavers International, with its partners in the Caribbean. The multi-faceted project is funding a range of measures from the training of...
Brussels was the location picked for the annual summit of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), 13-15 March. The intention was to draw attention of the EU to the “critically important role of tourism in the region to livelihood and poverty alleviation,” said Hugh Riley Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados-based CTO which represents 33 member countries and many private sector...
Most visitors to the Caribbean are shocked that it costs just as much to travel by air between the tropical islands as it would to North America.  Is there any choice? More than ever before Caribbean nationals have been calling for improved connections between the islands, reduced taxes on travel and an informed policy on regional travel from Governments of the CARICOM[i] trading bloc....
Medical staff prepare a sterilised cloth in a hospital ward © Medicimage
  Universal Healthcare Insurance (UHI) or health insurance, financed by the state, employers and possibly by private individuals, was long regarded as unattainable in developing countries. Unlike pensions, industrial accident insurance or free public schooling, this was not part of the colonial legacy bequeathed to the newly independent African or Caribbean states in the 1960s and 70s....
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the 15 member states of the Caribbean Forum for African, Caribbean and Pacific states (CARIFORUM) is to date the only ‘full’ EPA signed with the European Union (EU). This is the reason why other ACP regions are examining its bottlenecks and benefits two years after coming on stream. Branford Isaacs, Head of the Guyana-based...
A European Commission-funded project studying the dynamics of migration and town planning, implemented by UN-HABITAT, is underway in about thirty ACP countries. It is examining the planning characteristics of cities in which shanty towns have developed and is setting up action plans for improvements in their inhabitants’ living conditions. One of the first conclusions to be drawn is...
Caribbean’s private sector gets a boost Some leading International Financial Institutions have come together to set up a $US850M (€696M) action plan to boost private sector investment across the Caribbean region. The European Investment Bank (EIB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the International Finance Corporation (IFC)...
Rising fuel prices, coupled with the global recession, have had a negative impact on the sustainability of the Caribbean’s indigenous airlines. Some have been forced to merge or cease operations. One airline which has recently opted to quit the market is Air Jamaica. After operating in the industry for 41 years, Jamaica’s national carrier has thrown in the towel. An agreement...
The Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) is unique. It is the only region-wide export promotion body in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states. The 2008 signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the 15 member-state CARIFORUM* and the EU means new challenges. Set up in 1996 by CARIFORUM states, CEDA’s brief  is to strengthen...