Caribbean countries should exploit marine resources, say economists
Grenada — Caribbean countries should dive into the "blue economy" to exploit marine resources, giving their economies a much needed boost, while protecting coastal eco-systems, economists said. The island nations — which have 80 times more sea than land — been hampered by low growth and high debt, and they will need to attract financing to develop sectors such as ocean renewable energy and marine biotechnology, they said. "We very much see the blue economy as fundamentally central for the Caribbean region’s economic growth," said Tahseen Sayed, the World Bank director for Caribbean countries, in a speech. The value of global oceans is estimated to be $24-trillion, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) said in its Financing the Blue Economy report, released on Thursday at its annual board of governors meeting in Grenada.
That estimate was based on activities such as fishing, tourism, transport and carbon sequestration, which refers to the storage of carbon dioxide and other form...
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