A coalition of regional leaders and global investors on Thursday urged Caribbean governments to pivot decisively from aid dependence to private capital mobilisation, arguing that the region already commands significant investor interest but lacks the financial architecture to convert it into large-scale, job-creating projects.

The high-profile Caribbean Economic Forum (CEF), which opened here on Thursday, brings together global investors, government officials and multilateral financial institutions, aims to transform the Caribbean from a collection of fragmented markets into a unified, investable asset class.

Clinton White, founder of Counselor Global Solutions and co-convenor of the CEF, delivered the welcome remarks and reflected on his time living on the island while covering the region for the now-defunct United States Agency for International Development (USAID).