Green is the way to go.Emphasising how important the sustainability of the environment remains, Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr David Estwick yesterday urged this entire Diaspora to get on board and even make it their scope of entrepreneurship.He noted that it would be a brilliant idea not only because of the concept, but also because Barbados still has all the elements that make it conducive to foreign investment.The minister was delivering the feature address to scores gathered at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre yesterday, the second day of Barbados Network Consultation 2010, the Inaugural Diaspora Conference.In inviting Barbadians who now live outside of the island to start investing in Government’s green theory, the minister said his administration was determined to succeed at wind farming, production of alternative and renewable energy, conversion of waste to energy, solar electricity, and improving the medical tourism sector.“The Government of Barbados has set as priority the development of a green economy, and has offered concessions to businesses and investors who are developing products geared towards energy conservation and the minimisation of the use of fossil fuels,” Dr Estwick reminded his audience.He noted that it was time for Barbados to make a “quantum leap” to become a pioneer in the use of solar electricity at the commercial level in the Caribbean. Noting that this island has been at the forefront of the development of solar water energy, Dr Estwick said it was very important that local investors raise the necessary finance to provide a considerable percentage of the local demand for electricity through solar energy.Regarding alternative and renewable energy, Dr Estwick said both could prove to be environmentally and financially important to the future development of the country, but Government still has some infra-structural fine tuning ahead, such as the fixing of a fair rate for selling electricity back to the island’s national grid and amending legislation to permit entities other than the Barbados Light and Power Company, to sell electricity.According to Dr Estwick, Government also has its eyes set on inviting investment from the world’s film industry, since as a tropical destination, opportunities abound for the island to be used in countless movies and documentaries.In addition, venture capital and bio-technology are two areas he noted Government would be hoping to pipeline in the future.Estwick said Government was certain that Barbadians in the different diasporas would continue to play a significant role in the development of the island.“You should have no reservations about investing at home, and you can be fully assured that your investments are safe in Barbados,” Estwick concluded.
