BARBADOS (Commonwealth Union)_For the first time, the opening of a transatlantic bridge between the Caribbean and Africa to develop and manufacture pharmaceuticals for global public health will address the issue of pharmaceutical equity while also providing a platform for jobs, investment, and earnings for the industry in Barbados.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley made the news during a press appearance at Grantley Adams International Airport on Tuesday, shortly after arriving from a series of abroad engagements. She stated that establishing pharmaceutical production, particularly the regulatory environment, would be exceedingly challenging, but that it would be the main priority for the government over the next nine to twelve months.
“This has been a significant achievement for a little state like Barbados to be able to position itself as the centre of the Americas as the destination for the development of the pharmaceutical business,” PM Mottley added. I believe it is fair to say that there have been a number of requests to learn more about the joint communique since its announcement.
“We will establish the regulatory framework for these events to occur. What is at stake for Barbados is possibly 4,000 to 5,000 employment over the next four to five years, but the groundwork for this has already begun as early as April of this year.”
“The fact that the communique included the President of the European Union, the President of the European Investment Bank, the President of Rwanda, the President of Guyana, the Director General of the WHO, the Head of the Susan Buffett Foundation, and myself tells you this is not speculative,” she said, standing alongside newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Kerrie Symmonds. “This is serious work in action, and that is why we continue to go to Rwanda.”
The Prime Minister revealed that the Rwanda Food and Drug Administration was in Barbados six or seven weeks ago to conduct preliminary work with local drug and health officials, but emphasised that the infrastructure required to facilitate a pharmaceutical industry was significantly different from that required for other industries.
Symmonds stated that the government was conscious that in order for Barbados to grow economically, it needed to think of the island as more than just a warm weather hideaway for tourists from the northern Atlantic.
“There is a lot of potential for heritage tourism and cultural ties in tourism, and we must therefore explore every option accessible in terms of the African continent. In Rwanda, our Air Services Deal with them outlined the rights that would be granted to every airline on either side of the agreement. We would have to choose an airline that would be representing Barbados’ interests in Rwanda, and they, too, have chosen Air Rwanda. We don’t have an airline, but that’s something we’ll have to figure out.”
