Escalating regional crime rate deterring investors – CDB President

(Trinidad Express) The prevalence of serious crime in the Caribbean is stunting economic growth in the region and is deterring investors from coming to this part of the world.

This was the opinion of president of the Caribbean Development Bank Warren Smith who was speaking at the Fourth Biennial International Conference on Business, Banking and Finance at the Hilton Trinidad on Wednesday.

The theme of the conference is “Restoring Business Confidence and Investments in the Caribbean”.

“Crime, particularly serious crime, including homicide has escalated in recent years and is now one of the highest in the world. This weighs heavily on the pace of growth and development by redirecting scarce resources and by deterring critical investments in other areas,” Smith said.