分类： business

For the fifth straight year, regional telecommunications leader Liberty Caribbean has locked in its role as headline sponsor for the 41st CANTO Annual Conference & Trade Exhibition, extending a long-running partnership that supports digital and economic progress across the Caribbean.

Slated to run from August 9 to 12, 2026, the landmark industry gathering will be hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana, located in the Dominican Republic, bringing together a diverse cross-section of key stakeholders from across the region and beyond. Centered on the forward-looking theme ‘Elevate the Caribbean – From Connectivity to Global Competitiveness’, the 2026 conference will convene cabinet-level government leaders, top regulatory officials, senior policymakers, pioneering technology innovators, and leading telecommunications providers. The collective goal of attendees is to examine actionable strategies that will help the Caribbean region speed up its digital transformation, build up its global competitive edge, and unlock inclusive, long-term sustainable economic growth.

In comments on the renewed sponsorship, Liberty Caribbean Chief Executive Officer Inge Smidts emphasized the transformative potential of emerging technology for the region. ‘The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is redefining how economies compete, businesses grow, and societies connect. For the Caribbean, this presents an unprecedented opportunity to leap forward,’ Smidts noted.

Over the course of the four-day event, Liberty Caribbean will lead and contribute to high-priority discussions focused on four core pillars: expanding affordable, reliable connectivity across underserved communities, advancing meaningful digital inclusion to close the regional digital divide, shaping forward-thinking policy and regulatory frameworks that support innovation, and deepening cross-regional collaboration to accelerate the development of the Caribbean’s digital ecosystem.

Industry analysts note that Liberty Caribbean’s repeated commitment to headline sponsorship of the CANTO conference is far more than a branding move: it underscores the company’s long-standing dedication to partnering with public and private sector stakeholders across the region to build a more connected, economically resilient, and globally competitive Caribbean digital economy. As the event’s principal sponsor, Liberty Caribbean will hold direct engagements with regional government ministers, top ICT regulators, leading industry executives, and private sector delegates to help guide the trajectory of Caribbean digital development for years to come. Beyond policy discussions, the conference also serves as a critical platform for strengthening strategic cross-sector partnerships, advancing collaborative solutions to shared regional challenges, and cementing Liberty Caribbean’s reputation as a trusted leader in driving digital transformation and sustainable growth across the Caribbean.

In late June, London played host to the landmark International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Tourism Services Section Conference, where global labor leaders and industry stakeholders gathered to map out a more equitable and sustainable future for the global tourism transport sector. Among the attendees were David Massiah, General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) and Chair of the ITF Tourism Services Section, alongside ABWU Shop Steward Briann Russell.

Opening the two-day gathering, Massiah delivered a stark assessment of the industry’s unaddressed inequalities. He pointed out that while billions in global investment continue to pour into expanding and upgrading tourism infrastructure, the millions of working people who keep the sector running are still systematically left behind.

“Too often, those same workers are the ones facing the greatest insecurity—informal work, low wages, unsustainable working conditions, and increasing pressure from changing business models,” Massiah told delegates, highlighting a systemic gap between industry growth and worker well-being that has persisted for decades.

Gender equity emerged as the central priority of the 2024 conference, with discussions and policy efforts culminating in the official launch of a groundbreaking joint report by ITF and the United Nations: the *Global Report on Women in Tourism Transportation*. The comprehensive new study documents long-standing gender gaps across every stage of employment in the sector, from entry-level recruitment to senior leadership representation. It also lays out clear, actionable recommendations to help employers, governments, and unions build more inclusive, fair, and equitable workplaces across the global tourism transport industry.

Beyond advancing gender equity, conference delegates agreed on a set of core strategic priorities to guide the sector through its ongoing transition to sustainability. These priorities include raising industry-wide Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, expanding union membership and building organizational capacity for labor groups globally, advancing safety standards for tourism destinations worldwide, and ensuring a just transition that protects worker rights as the sector shifts to lower-carbon operations.

To advance cross-sector collaboration, the conference hosted a dedicated Tourism Industry Event that brought together trade union delegates with representatives from leading global tourism bodies. Participants included officials from UN Tourism, the University of Surrey, the World Travel & Tourism Council, the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, and other major industry organizations, all joining to debate shared challenges and opportunities for the global tourism sector.

Speaking to assembled industry and organizational leaders, Massiah emphasized that no single stakeholder group can build a better future for tourism on its own. “The future of tourism cannot be shaped by any one group alone,” he said. “Governments set the framework. Industry drives investment and innovation. Workers deliver the service and the experience.”

Following the London conference, Massiah traveled to Madrid to hold discussions at the UN Tourism Office, continuing diplomatic efforts to align labor priorities with global tourism development goals. Massiah stressed that genuine cross-stakeholder partnership is the only path to turning tourism into a powerful driver of inclusive development—especially for small island developing regions like the Caribbean, where tourism forms the backbone of national economic activity and social progress.

As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) prepares to convene its annual Heads of Government meeting in Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda has laid out a clear, cost-of-living-focused policy agenda centered on reforming the bloc’s core trade framework. Prime Minister Gaston Browne outlined his country’s priorities in an interview on the *Brown and Brown Show* on Sunday, confirming that Antigua and Barbuda will lead a push to extend and broaden the current suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) — a regional import duty applied to all goods entering CARICOM from non-member nations.

The existing CET suspension, currently capped at a one-year term, has already helped bring down prices for imported goods across the bloc. Browne argues that this temporary relief needs to be expanded to deliver sustained relief for households grappling with rising living costs. “We’ll certainly be one of the countries that’s going to push for a reduction in the cost of living by asking for a continued suspension of the CET,” Browne told listeners. “I know it’s on a yearly basis. I think we should go to at least two years in the suspension of the CET.” Beyond extending the timeline, Antigua and Barbuda is also calling for the suspension to be broadened to cover more product categories, unlocking additional price cuts for consumers.

To complement the CET reform, Browne says Antigua and Barbuda will also advocate for expanded access to lower-priced imports from the Dominican Republic, a non-CARICOM neighbor with competitive production in multiple key sectors. To back this proposal, the prime minister has already instructed the country’s Ministry of Trade to compile a detailed list of goods that the Dominican Republic can supply at lower costs than existing intra-CARICOM suppliers. This move is part of a broader regional strategy to tame persistent inflationary pressures that have strained household budgets across the Caribbean in recent years.

Browne also highlighted that CARICOM is currently advancing a new trade agreement with Colombia, which would open doors for member states to access a wider range of competitively priced goods. Leveraging its existing robust shipping connections to Panama, the Dominican Republic, and key South American markets, Antigua and Barbuda stands ready to act as a regional distribution hub for these lower-cost imports, the prime minister noted, positioning the country to support the entire bloc’s cost-reduction goals.

While short-term trade adjustments are critical for immediate relief, Browne emphasized that long-term, sustainable reductions in the cost of living will require deeper structural change. “Ultimately, we will be able to reduce the cost of living by growing our own produce and having our own meats,” he said, calling on consumers across the region to prioritize and support locally produced agricultural goods as part of the collective push for lower living costs.

The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda is on track to deliver a landmark annual budget surplus exceeding EC$250 million in 2025, with government revenue collections continuing to outperform results from the previous year, Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced in a public appearance Sunday.

Speaking during an interview on the local *Brown and Brown Show*, Browne explained that the stronger-than-expected surplus forecast stems from robust revenue collection by two key government agencies: the Inland Revenue Department and the Customs and Excise Division. This positive fiscal outcome comes even as the administration maintains a controversial policy holding domestic fuel prices below global market rates, a choice that has carved into projected government earnings.

“Year-to-date, revenue performance has been good, very strong,” Browne told listeners. “We’re quite pleased with the performance of both Inland Revenue as well as Customs. Both of them have actually shown increases over last year.”

The prime minister noted that the upward trend in revenue has put the government in the rare position of delivering a multi-hundred-million-dollar surplus while simultaneously making progress on reducing the country’s overall sovereign debt burden. “We are projecting a surplus of about a quarter of a billion dollars, and the debt-to-GDP is falling down to about 62 percent,” Browne added.

Browne also confirmed that the government has rejected advice from its own Ministry of Finance to scrap the fuel price subsidy, choosing to continue artificially lowering consumer costs at the pump. To maintain the policy, the government compensates the West Indies Oil Company to offset losses from the capped prices, and the administration gives up roughly EC$4 million in monthly tax revenue to keep the subsidy in place.

Even accounting for this recurring monthly revenue loss, Browne confirmed that total year-to-date collections are still higher than the totals recorded during the same period in 2024, defying projections that the subsidy would erase fiscal gains.

The prime minister used the announcement to defend his administration’s track record on fiscal stewardship, pointing out that since his government took office in 2014, national debt has grown only marginally even as the country’s overall economy has expanded substantially. “When it comes to fiscal responsibility, I can say here without any fear of contradiction that my administration has been the most fiscally responsible administration that this country has ever seen,” Browne stated.

Looking ahead, Browne emphasized that the confluence of sustained broad-based economic expansion, improved tax compliance and collection, and careful fiscal planning has put the government in a stronger financial position, allowing it to keep pushing forward with critical infrastructure and development projects across the nation.