Good morning.
Prime Minister of The Bahamas, the most Honourable Philip Davis, Chairman, The Honourable Michael Halkitis, President Daniel Best, esteemed members of the Bank seated at this table, all representatives of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Management, fellow Governors, Directors, and distinguished guests attending this 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the CDB.
It is a great honour to be here representing Regional Non-Borrowing Member Countries, and particularly Brazil, at the highest-level meeting of the CDB. The importance of CDB extends far beyond the borrowing countries of the Caribbean, as the Bank fosters dialogue, cooperation, and development across the wider Latin American and Caribbean region and beyond.
One year ago, in 2025, Brazil had the great honour of hosting the Bank’s Annual Meeting in our capital, Brasília, and also the Brazil-Caribbean Summit, bringing together representatives from 16 nations. Under the motto "Drawing Closer to Unite," President Lula put forward priority areas for cooperation, including environment, energy transition, food security, connectivity, and diplomacy. It took several months of intense work and dedication from our team to make the Bank’s Annual Meeting possible. Hence, we know firsthand how much effort takes place behind the scenes of a meeting like this. For that reason, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the CDB Management and, above all, to our hosts, The Bahamas, for their warm hospitality and excellent organisation of this event.
For more than half a century, CDB has played a vital role in promoting economic cooperation, integration, and development among Caribbean countries through the financing and support of impactful public and private investments. Over time, the Bank has continuously evolved to respond to the needs of the region and to an ever-changing global landscape.
This year, with the launch of the 2026–2035 Strategic Plan, we are beginning a new cycle. In a world marked by geopolitical instability, as well as growing climate and environmental risks, the central theme of the plan could not be more timely: resilience.
In this regard, the strategy is particularly successful in organising its framework around three interconnected pillars of resilience: social, economic, and environmental. These dimensions are inseparable from one another, and it is increasingly evident that economic growth and social well-being are profoundly linked to environmental sustainability.
As it engendered this outward-looking strategy, CDB did also undertake important internal reforms. For nearly two years, the Bank and the members have been engaged in an extensive governance review process. As Chair of the Governance Review Committee, Brazil has had the opportunity to follow this work very closely. It is therefore with great satisfaction that we witness the conclusion of an important step of this governance review during this meeting.
From this point forward, it is time to roll up our sleeves. It is time to move from strategy to implementation - not only in delivering the ten-year strategic vision, but also in carrying out the governance reforms that will make the Bank stronger, more efficient, and better equipped to fulfill its mission.
May this meeting serve as a moment for reflection, dialogue, and the construction of solutions that allow us to progress even further toward these shared objectives.
I wish everyone a productive and successful meeting!
