Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) officially held a ground-breaking ceremony for a major new facility expansion in St Kitts and Nevis on Thursday. The ceremony followed an official high-level meeting at Government Headquarters between St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister (PM) Dr Terrance M Drew, senior leadership from DDL and representatives from Guyana’s BK Group of Companies.

“The investment is especially significant because it speaks to a larger Caribbean ambition. DDL is a distinguished CARICOM enterprise, headquartered in Guyana, investing and expanding within another CARICOM member state. This is the regional integration impact. For decades we have spoken about a Caribbean single market economy, about the movement of capital, the expansion of regional trade and the need to build stronger Caribbean enterprises. Projects such as this demonstrate vision and demonstrate what that vision looks like when translated from policy into productive economic activity. We must increasingly create the Caribbean in which the Caribbean capital can move confidently across the Caribbean, all for our benefit. We therefore, in St Kitts and Nevis, welcome this investment.”

The PM explained that the expansion forms part of the overarching goal of economic diversification and sustainability. “For us, sustainability is not limited to renewable energy or environmental protection. It is a comprehensive development philosophy. It requires us to build an economy that is diversified, productive, resilient and capable of creating meaningful opportunities for all people. Small Island Developing States like ours cannot build resilient economies by remaining overwhelmingly dependent upon a narrow range of economic activities. We must manufacture more; we must add greater value locally; we must expand our export capacity, as was mentioned by the Chairman. We must earn more foreign exchange, as he also mentioned, and we must create products and services capable of competing successfully within CARICOM and across the international market space. The investment by DDL advances precisely that objective.”