Port development requires the Caribbean to look outwards

In the last few years almost every significant Caribbean country has announced that they are upgrading their port facilities and preparing to compete to attract the larger post-panamax vessels that from some time in 2015 will be transiting an enlarged Panama Canal.

Such is the opportunity, given the Caribbean’s strategic location at the crossroads of north-south and east-west trade, and its numerous existing or new locations for deepwater ports, that Jamaica, Martinique, Cuba, Trinidad, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic have all made clear, that with the support of one or another foreign investor, port development will become critical to future growth.

However, what is still far from certain is whether there is enough opportunity for all of the existing or proposed super ports, hubs, and manufacturing and trans-shipment zones to succeed. Viewed from another perspective, the more one speaks to experts, the less clear it is whether the winners will be those who have made an