Wayne Girard - Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy.
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, in collaboration with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) of Japan, successfully convened the first Caribbean Regional Dialogue on August 21–22, 2025, under the theme Advancing Resilient Prosperity in the Caribbean.
Hosted at the Bay Gardens Hotel in Saint Lucia, the two-day Dialogue brought together senior government officials, regional organisations, academia, civil society, private sector and youth representatives from across the OECS and broader CARICOM region.
They exchanged experiences and explored opportunities and solutions across five key pillars: the Blue Economy, community-based tourism, agriculture and food security, economic development and trade, and climate and disaster risk reduction. Cross-cutting issues of data, gender, youth, civil society, and private-sector participation were also central to the discussions.
In his welcome to the gathering, Saint Lucia’s Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy, Hon. Wayne Girard, described the Dialogue as “a call to conscience, a platform for cooperation, and a powerful expression of our collective Caribbean resolve.”
He stressed that resilience for the region “is not merely the ability to bounce back; it is the determination to bounce forward into sustainability, inclusion, and innovation.”
Echoing this call, Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS, urged the region to reframe its global narrative. “The Caribbean is not simply vulnerable; it is a wellspring of renewable-rich grids, blue-economy innovation, community driven tourism, and food systems transformation”.
