In a landmark address at the Certification Ceremony for the Strengthening Public Expenditure Management (SPEM) Project, CARICOM Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett celebrated the pioneering cohort of Belizean public officials who completed the groundbreaking fiscal training initiative. The ceremony marked a significant milestone in collaborative governance, bringing together the Government of Belize, the University of Belize, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in a tripartite commitment to fiscal excellence.
Dr. Barnett emphasized that robust public financial management constitutes the bedrock of sustainable development for small developing states like Belize, which face disproportionate vulnerabilities to global economic volatility and climate-induced disruptions. She articulated that every dollar of public expenditure carries profound implications for national development outcomes, directly influencing critical sectors including healthcare, education infrastructure, and community resilience building.
The Secretary-General positioned Belize’s fiscal advancement within broader regional and international contexts, noting that the country’s participation in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy necessitates sophisticated financial management capabilities. She underscored that transparent fiscal systems enable more effective regional trade engagement, cross-border collaboration, and foreign investment attraction.
Beyond technical proficiency, Dr. Barnett highlighted the program’s alignment with global development frameworks, particularly the United Nations Financing for Development agenda emphasizing domestic resource mobilization. She framed fiscal discipline as a strategic imperative for reducing external dependency and building self-reliant economies capable of withstanding external shocks.
Addressing the graduates directly, Barnett charged them with transforming their acquired expertise into tangible improvements in public service delivery and fiscal accountability. She characterized their certification not merely as personal achievement but as a critical contribution to strengthening public trust in governance institutions through demonstrable development outcomes.
The SPEM Project represents a continuous commitment to institutional capacity building, incorporating digital financial systems, advanced data analytics, and modern auditing techniques while maintaining core principles of accountability and inclusive governance.