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During a recent public town hall meeting held in Brooklyn, New York, Prime Minister Godwin Friday of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has formally reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to upholding the country’s decades-long ban on personal watercraft jet skis in all local territorial waters. The announcement came in direct response to a question from a Vincentian expatriate based in New York, who pressed for the restriction to be lifted to align SVG with jet ski-accessible destinations across the Caribbean, noting the recreational activity’s widespread popularity with both tourists and returning nationals.

In his response, Friday acknowledged the broad appeal of jet skiing as a coastal recreational activity across the Caribbean region, but explained that unresolved public safety risks and gaps in the country’s current regulatory enforcement capacity have led the government to retain the longstanding ban for the foreseeable future.

“Jet skis is an issue that has come up over and over again in certain areas,” the prime minister told attendees. “We have looked at the pros and cons of it, and for the time being, we have said that we will not change with respect to that. And so it continues to be [that] we… restrict or… ban the use of jet ski in our bays and waters and so forth.”

Drawing on personal experience from his home community of Bequia, Friday framed unregulated high-speed watercraft operation as an inherent threat to recreational water users including swimmers and casual bathers. He emphasized that the core challenge is not the activity itself, but the absence of a robust framework to enforce operating boundaries and safety standards. Adding jet skis to already busy nearshore waters, he argued, would only exacerbate existing regulatory gaps rather than resolve them.

“Unless we can find a solution to that with respect to jet skis, for the time being, that is the approach that we have adopted,” Friday said. The prime minister did not rule out future policy changes, however, noting that the government remains open to revisiting the ban if and when SVG can strengthen its regulatory capacity and implement a comprehensive safety framework to manage jet ski operations.

“Sometimes it’s necessary for us to review policies that we have had, and we are open to doing that,” he added. “But the matter came up… since we’ve been in government, and we have confirmed the decision that was taken many years ago.”

Beyond the jet ski discussion, the town hall meeting served as a platform for Friday to lay out his administration’s transformative new vision for SVG’s tourism sector, which sits at the heart of the country’s broader economic growth and debt-reduction strategy. The prime minister stressed that the days of the government relying on heavy public borrowing to fund large-scale infrastructure projects are over, and the administration is now turning to private sector investment and diaspora capital to drive modernization and expansion of the country’s tourism offerings.

“We are entering into an era where we are going to rely more on private investment,” Friday told the gathering. “We need your input. We are going to engage in public-private partnerships in a way that accelerates investment in the country and generates economic growth that brings a better standard of living, more jobs, more investment opportunities, more services… to our economy.”

As a flagship example of this new approach, Friday revealed that the government is currently in active negotiations with Global Ports Holding (GPH), a leading regional cruise port operator, for a concession agreement to operate and upgrade the aging Kingstown cruise terminal. Built more than three decades ago, the existing terminal no longer meets the needs of the modern cruise industry, which has shifted to far larger vessels and demands higher-quality visitor amenities than the current facility can provide.

Friday noted that the government lacks the fiscal room to undertake the multi-million dollar modernization project on its own, and a partnership with GPH will deliver the required upgrades immediately without adding additional burden to the country’s national debt. Under the proposed agreement, the government will retain public ownership of the terminal while capturing a share of operating revenue, creating a model that can be replicated for other key tourism infrastructure projects across SVG.

This public-private partnership framework aligns with Friday’s three-pronged national strategy: stabilizing public finances, shielding vulnerable communities from the impacts of fiscal adjustment, and driving sustainable growth through private sector-led expansion. The prime minister added that this strategy marks a return to SVG’s historic roots as an export-led economy, a tradition he said has been eroded in recent years by growing risk aversion to engaging global markets.

“Since we have had agriculture in the past, where we used to export — we were an export-led economy,” he reminded the audience. “People seem to forget that we made our living by selling things abroad. Nowadays, there seems to be this reticence to take a chance, to think, well, we can’t sell things outside of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ shores. We have to bring back that… environment in which we build and we invest, so that we can sell abroad, and there is a larger market, and that way we earn more, improve the standing of our people.”

For Friday, tourism extends far beyond physical infrastructure like ports and hotels. It is a platform to build new domestic businesses, distinctive destination brands, and immersive visitor experiences that can be marketed to global travelers through modern digital channels, unlocking long-term inclusive growth for all Vincentians.

At a diaspora-focused investment gathering held Saturday in New York City, Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Diaspora Affairs, positioned the nation’s global Vincentian community as indispensable central partners, not distant peripheral supporters, in the push to build a more resilient, inclusive domestic economy.

The event, themed “Reconnect, Reinvest, Rebuild: Turning Vincentian Global Success into Local Opportunity”, framed Bramble’s address, which opened with a straightforward acknowledgment of the decades-long history of Vincentian migration. Many who left St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) carried little more than a suitcase of belongings, a store of hope, and the well-wishes of loved ones, building new lives in the United States and other nations. Despite the challenges of resettlement, these migrants persevered, growing into successful homeowners, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders — all while holding tight to their Vincentian identity, passing down cultural traditions, food, language, and values to generations born abroad, Bramble noted.

But today’s economic and social context demands more than nostalgic connection to homeland, Bramble argued. For the SVG government, meaningful reconnection requires building active, structured, long-term engagement between the national government and the global Vincentian diaspora. To advance this goal, his ministry is expanding the mandate of its dedicated diaspora desk and the nation’s global diplomatic missions: to center the concerns and ideas of overseas Vincentians, keep the community updated on domestic development opportunities, and streamline processes for investment, return migration, and collaborative projects. “You are not outsiders. You are Vincentians,” Bramble emphasized, adding that the nation’s foreign, trade, and investment policies will be updated to reflect this core reality.

Turning to the theme’s second pillar — reinvestment — Bramble acknowledged the deep emotional bond that ties most overseas Vincentians to their homeland, noting that the government values this connection deeply, but aims to translate that emotional loyalty into tangible enterprise and local opportunity. Contrary to common assumptions, he explained, reinvestment does not require large-scale capital commitments from diaspora members. Smaller actions, from a professional overseas partnering with a local SVG entrepreneur to scale their small business, to individual diaspora members mentoring young Vincentians via digital platforms, to groups of overseas Vincentians launching collective investment clubs focused on key domestic sectors including tourism, agriculture, technology, and renewable energy, all count as meaningful reinvestment. Bramble also highlighted the underutilized role diaspora members can play in connecting SVG products and services to global markets via trade missions and international business expos.
Against a backdrop of intensifying global competition for capital, skilled talent, and cutting-edge technology, Bramble noted that every small developing state is vying for these critical resources — but SVG holds a unique advantage: a global network of people already deeply invested in the nation’s success. The government’s core task, he said, is to align the diaspora’s existing goodwill with actionable, viable investment opportunities on the ground. To that end, the administration is working to streamline regulatory processes to improve the ease of doing business, identify bankable, high-impact projects across key sectors, strengthen investor support and aftercare services, and develop new frameworks to formally recognize diaspora investors as core development partners. “When you return to invest, we do not see you merely as ‘foreign investors’… We see you as members of our extended national family, coming home to help build the house,” Bramble said.

Addressing the third pillar of the event’s theme — rebuilding — Bramble reframed the concept not as an acknowledgment of SVG’s vulnerability, but as a declaration of the nation’s inherent resilience. Like other small island developing states, SVG sits on the frontlines of climate change impacts and volatile global economic shifts, and has faced significant hardship. But through decades of challenge, the nation has demonstrated consistent courage, creativity, and faith, Bramble said.

Any meaningful rebuilding effort must center on a clear vision for the future SVG economy: one that is more diversified to reduce vulnerability to external shocks, more inclusive to expand opportunities for women, young people, and rural communities, more innovative to leverage technology as a transformative driver of growth, and more sustainable to protect the nation’s iconic natural beauty and resources. In this economic transformation, Bramble positioned diaspora engagement as a central pillar of the national rebuilding agenda. The diverse skills diaspora members hold across engineering, medicine, finance, marketing, logistics, and digital technology, paired with their exposure to global best practices, can help modernize core domestic sectors, avoid costly developmental missteps, and accelerate access to emerging global opportunities, he explained.

Bramble was careful to clarify that the government is not asking overseas Vincentians to shoulder the full burden of national rebuilding. “When we say ‘rebuild,’ we are not asking you to come and do everything,” he said. “We are inviting you to partner with our people at home, with our businesses, our institutions, and our government, in a spirit of mutual respect and shared responsibility.”

Today, the Vincentian national story spans the globe, with thriving communities across New York, Toronto, London, Miami, and the wider Caribbean. Overseas Vincentians have succeeded in highly competitive global environments, gained hard-won professional experience, built robust global networks, and earned strong reputations in their fields. The critical question now, Bramble argued, is how to convert this global success into concrete opportunity for communities back home. This work begins with conversations like the New York gathering, but must quickly move to formal collaboration and shared commitment, he said.

Bramble pledged that over the coming months and years, his ministry, working in lockstep with other government agencies, will develop clearer, more accessible pathways for diaspora investment and business partnership. The administration will also expand cross-border knowledge exchange programs that connect diaspora experts with domestic counterparts for training and advisory support, grow youth-focused initiatives that pair young Vincentians with mentors living abroad, and create formal programs to celebrate and recognize outstanding contributions from the diaspora — a move designed both to honor existing work and signal to the wider global community that engagement with SVG is meaningful and valued.

“We want you to see St. Vincent and the Grenadines not only as the place of your birth or heritage,” Bramble said, “but as a serious place to do business, to innovate, and to make a difference.”

Closing with a personal reflection, Bramble reminded attendees that each person in the room carried a unique journey: one that led them from a small Caribbean nation to one of the world’s great global cities. These community members know firsthand what it means to build something meaningful from humble beginnings, to make sacrifice for long-term gain, and to hold fast to hope even through challenge. “Imagine what we can achieve if we align your experience, your resources, and your vision with the aspirations of our people at home,” he said. “Imagine a St. Vincent and the Grenadines where a talented young person, instead of feeling that they must leave to succeed, feels that they can also return, or stay, and thrive — because the diaspora has helped to open up new paths. That is the essence of our theme: to reconnect hearts and minds; to reinvest resources and knowledge; to rebuild a stronger, more inclusive, more resilient St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

During a recent diaspora town hall held in New York on September 20, 2026, Prime Minister Godwin Friday of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has laid out a deliberate, evidence-first approach to addressing potential mismanagement and corruption in state-owned entities, following the completion of a nationwide rapid assessment of public enterprises.

Shortly after his new administration took office in November, Friday announced that his government quietly commissioned a two-person team of local SVG experts to conduct a comprehensive review of the financial standing and governance structures of all statutory bodies and state-owned companies. The independent review was split into two phases: an initial diagnostic report covering 12 major public entities was delivered to the Prime Minister roughly three months ago, and the team has now finalized its full assessment of all remaining public enterprises. While Friday has not yet reviewed the complete final report, he confirmed that the initial batch of findings already identified multiple areas that demand deeper formal investigation.

The Prime Minister’s comments came directly in response to pressing questions from members of the Vincentian diaspora community in attendance, who raised widespread concerns about alleged corruption that occurred under the previous Unity Labour Party administration. Many attendees also shared fears that the new government would maintain the status quo of “business as usual” despite campaign promises of institutional reform and accountability, pointing to high-profile past controversies and questionable management of public resources.

Rejecting calls for rushed, theatrical action to satisfy arbitrary timelines, Friday emphasized that his administration would prioritize methodical, systematic review over headline-grabbing accusations that lack sufficient evidence. He drew a clear contrast between his government’s approach and what he framed as politicized accountability efforts by past administrations, where high-profile probes ultimately collapsed after years of public attention because they were launched from unsubstantiated premises.

“We have said, and I’ve said this when we were campaigning, I said in office now: we are going about the assessment as to how government has functioned in a methodical and systematic manner, not to meet any kind of timeline that somebody’s arbitrarily set,” Friday stated.

The Prime Minister framed the full rapid assessment as the foundational diagnostic first step of his government’s accountability process, designed to identify systemic patterns of mismanagement or misconduct rather than targeting specific individuals for political gain. “There are things there that require further investigation, and where the information and the evidence lead, we will follow,” he repeated, adding that the end goal of the process is to correct institutional failures, hold wrongdoers accountable, and implement meaningful reform. He reaffirmed the new government’s commitment to delivering on its campaign promise of transparency and accountability, urging attendees to judge the administration by its actions rather than rushed public announcements.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, who also spoke at the town hall, reinforced this approach when addressing a specific ongoing probe: the wiping of data from consulate computers ahead of the transition of power between administrations. Bramble, who first revealed the wiped devices after the handover, confirmed that the investigation is still active and progressing, noting that thorough probes require time to build a solid evidence base.

Responding directly to the concern that the new government would maintain unaddressed problematic practices, Bramble stated, “In response to your general question about whether this is business as usual, of course it cannot be business as usual. Simply because we don’t come forward with something on your timing doesn’t mean that it’s not forthcoming.” The East Kingstown MP reaffirmed that the current administration frames itself as a government of accountability and transparency, pledging that any confirmed evidence of corruption or misconduct will be met with appropriate action, including potential legal and administrative consequences once investigations are complete.

Against the backdrop of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) underway in New York, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Godwin Friday held a high-level bilateral meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at UN Headquarters Sunday, centered on pressing global challenges that disproportionately impact the world’s most vulnerable nations. The discussion brought two interconnected priorities to the forefront: strengthening global climate resilience and advancing structural reform of the international financial system. This meeting marked one of the key diplomatic engagements Friday has taken part in during the UNGA’s annual gathering of global leaders.

In remarks after the closed-door talks, Friday emphasized that the conversation reinforced the critical need for consistent, high-level advocacy to advance the interests of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – a group that includes his own country and the majority of members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). “We spoke about issues confronting the planet, climate change and strong advocacy for the interests of Small Island Developing States,” Friday told reporters.

For SIDS including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the two core topics on the meeting’s agenda are far from abstract global policy debates: they are directly tied to the survival and long-term development of vulnerable coastal nations. Rising sea levels, more frequent extreme weather events, and growing climate-related disaster costs have pushed many SIDS to the brink of economic instability, while outdated international lending rules and limited access to affordable financing have left these states unable to invest in critical climate adaptation and sustainable development infrastructure. Friday noted that these shared concerns are top priorities for CARICOM as a bloc, which has worked for weeks to ensure the unique challenges facing small island nations remain a central topic of discussion across UNGA side events and bilateral meetings throughout the New York gathering.

Friday stressed that it remains essential for the international community’s highest decision-making and diplomatic bodies to continue centering the specific circumstances and systemic vulnerabilities SIDS face, rather than sidelining their needs in broader global policy discussions. The meeting between Friday and Guterres comes as SIDS ramp up collective pressure to secure meaningful commitments on climate finance and financial system reform during this year’s UNGA session.