Dominica Opposition party launches economic revival summit

The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) has launched a Dominica economic revival summit 2024 scheduled to take place in June.

The UWP, said in collaboration with the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC), the June 4-6 event will be held under the theme “Planning for Sustainable Growth and Development,” and will bring together key stakeholders, government officials, business leaders, and experts in various fields to engage in constructive dialogue and collaboration.

“Dominica’s economy and by extension, its people have suffered due to a lack of proper economic planning,” said UWP political leader, Dr Thomson Fontaine, adding that he expects participation from all stakeholders, regardless of political affiliation.

He said failure to plan for sustainable development while focusing exclusively on revenues from the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) “has resulted in an overall lack of development, failure to create jobs, and the generally poor state of the economy that we see in Dominica”.

Under the CBI, foreign investors are granted citizenship of the island in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of Dominica.

The UWP said that the planned summit will focus on agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and construction, knowledge and economy and renewable energy.
“We believe that this is the way forward for Dominica; all of us working together; all of us planning together and all of us succeeding together,” Fontaine added.
ERC member , Severin Mckenzie said the summit would help develop strategies to advance the country’s economic prosperity.

“The summit’s main objective is to begin the process of a masterplan which will serve as a roadmap for Dominica’s future development. As we approach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, there is no doubt that Dominicans are disappointed with the present state of the economy.

“For those who are curious about what the link between electoral reform and an economic revival summit is; we in the ERC are very conscious of the fact that beyond electoral reform comes economic reform,” Mckenzie noted.