49th Annual Meeting

Mr. Aldwyn Wayne, on the surface, is an extremely accomplished Technologist, with 12 plus years’ experience in the technology field. Trained in Computer Science with a bachelor’s degree and master’s in computer technology from the University of Georgia, Mr. Wayne has built a reputation for developing creative business strategies, incubating new projects, and building out new technology systems. Using the Corinex BP technology for Petrotrin, he created the First off shore Powerline camera system in the world. Continuing this path with nothing less than perfection, he implemented the first ever high way camera system for the Ministry of Works and Transport at the Grand Bazzar intersection in Trinidad. He also created a High-speed leak detection system for Baker Hughes Oilfield Services. As well as he Designed and implemented an Early Flood Warning system for Digeo Martin Corporation Trinidad.

Currently Mr Wayne is at the forefront of the fastest moving technology industry trend; E-services. He has spent the past two years evangelizing a Caribbean wide shift to more accessible financial E- services through his founded company WiPay Trinidad and Tobago. Using the pervasiveness of the Smartphone and the accessibility of the internet WiPay have compiled the KYC requirements, the merchant ID, the point of presence and end user device all in one simple application to create frictionless payments. You can make payments with credit, debit and most importantly cash anywhere in the Caribbean. Not forgetting Individual, peer to peer payments and regional transfers as well as interchange zero for merchants.

A calculated risk taker with deep tech industry knowledge, Mr Wayne has championed financial E-services throughout Trinidad and Tobago and has been rapidly integrating these services throughout the Caribbean. As the CEO of WiPay, Mr. Aldwyn Wayne is revolutionizing how online transactions are conducted in T&T and regionally. He has prompt us into the modern era of conducting business.

Although Mr Wayne has established ties with large organizations such as Unipet, Digicel, the judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago, Massy Stores, his attention is on enabling entrepreneurs, small businesses and even NGO’s, as this platform is certain to level the playing field. Presentations and discussions at the Chamber of Commerce, as well as meetings with the Minster of Trade and Industry, shows that Mr. Aldwyn Wayne is not just talk but all about the business. His winning smile and engaging personality are powered by a genuine desire to see businesses grow and thrive in today’s changing economic landscape.

The Honourable Allen M. Chastanet is the current Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, since June 2016. Between 2006 and 2011, he was Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation and a member of the Saint Lucian Senate. He is a former vice president of marketing and sales for Air Jamaica. Under his guidance, Air Jamaica achieved unparalleled growth both in leisure and Caribbean diaspora markets. In 2001, he was named Travel Agent Magazine’s “Caribbean Destination Person of the Year”. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Development Banking (American University, Washington D.C.) and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Political Science (Bishops University, Quebec).

Avinash Persaud’s career spreads across finance, academia and public policy. He is currently on secondment as Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados for Investment and Finance. He is Emeritus Professor of Gresham College and non-executive Chairman of Elara Capital PLC (UK). He was chairman, regulatory sub-committee of the UN Commission on Financial Reform; Chairman, Warwick Commission; Member of the UK Treasury’s Audit and Risk Committee and the Pew Task Force to the US Senate Banking Committee; Visiting Scholar at the IMF and ECB and Distinguished Advisor, Financial Sector Law Reform Commission of India. He is a former senior executive of J. P. Morgan, UBS, State Street and GAM London Ltd. He is a former Governor, London School of Economics and 2010 President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (Section F). He was elected Director of the Global Association of Risk Professionals and the Royal Economics Society. He won the Jacques de Larosiere Award in Global Finance from the Institute of International Finance and was voted one of the top three public intellectuals in the world on the financial crisis by a panel for Prospect Magazine.

Mr. Barton Clarke was appointed Executive Director for the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) on 12th May, 2015.  Mr. Clarke is a national of Barbados and has a wealth of professional experience in agricultural development and a deep understanding and knowledge of the Region’s political and socio-economic systems.

In his position Mr. Clarke is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the Institute’s work programme inclusive of donor funded projects.  He also leads resource mobilisation activities, so as to increase scientific and technological research, innovation and partnerships critical to boosting the Region’s agricultural sector.

Mr. Clarke has held many senior managerial positions including the position of Chief Agricultural Officer in his native Barbados.  He served as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Representative for Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname at the FAO Office in Trinidad and Tobago. He also held various positions previously at CARDI including Country Representative for Barbados, Dominica and St Lucia, Deputy Director Technical Programmes for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Project Manager for European Union (EU) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded projects.

Calum Cameron witnessed the transformation of Estonia to a digital society over 25 years.

He is also a keen observer of the struggles in his native Australia and the UK to do the same. He is an experienced CTO who has built and lead digital project teams transforming financial services enterprises for over 20 years and has been a key influencer in the development of the Estonian startup ecosystem.

As head of Europe's premier B2B and B2G startup accelerator he lead the marketing of Estonia as a startup incubator and sandbox for disruptive businesses, and worked closely with many of the companies who now deliver Estonia's digital society. His mission is to build digital societies with adaptive governments around the world leveraging the people and solutions that built e-Estonia.

The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, appointed to the Senate in 1992, entered the political landscape as the youngest Senator to be appointed to the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago. An attorney-at-law by profession, she held the portfolios of Minister of Information from 1992 to 1994, Minister of Consumer Affairs from 1994 to 1995 and Minister in the Ministry of Planning and Development, responsible for the environment. She became Minister of Legal Affairs 2001-2003 and became the first woman to serve as a Minister of Planning and Development in Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM. Under her stewardship, the signature Vision 2020 Operational Plan was completed, having been developed by a multi-disciplinary team of representatives from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia.  The initial version of the Vision 2030, National Development Strategy has also been completed under her leadership.

Minister Robinson-Regis has also served Trinidad and Tobago as a diplomat, having been appointed High Commissioner of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to Canada in 2007, a position she held until 2010. Her exceptional career path is supported by her sound educational background, beginning with her Primary School foundation at Bishop Anstey Junior School, proceeding to Bishop Anstey High School as her Secondary and later the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and Cave Hill campuses, where she undertook a Bachelor of Laws degree and subsequently the Legal Education Certificate at the Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica. Minister Robinson-Regis was admitted to the Trinidad and Tobago Bar in 1985.

With her insight and experience, Minister Robinson Regis has returned to the Ministry of Planning and Development as the Minister of Planning and Development, having been appointed on September 11th, 2015.

Daniel Best is Director of the Projects Department at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). In this role, he is accountable for the management, pipeline development, appraisal and implementation of the Bank’s lending and technical assistance programmes across multiple sectors.

Since becoming Director in 2015, Daniel has been credited for consistently leading his team to deliver strong results, significantly contributing to the Bank’s achievement of its critical targets. Before being promoted to his current position, Daniel held various leadership roles within the Projects Department, through which he led teams to achieve impact through infrastructure development across the Caribbean Region.

Prior to joining CDB, Daniel was the Regional Project Manager for a multinational commercial financial institution, where he successfully led the implementation of the organisation’s regional infrastructure strategy. 

Daniel is a Civil Engineer with a Master of Business Administration from the University of Durham and a Project Management Professional with over 24 years of experience.

Away from the office, Daniel has become a central figure in Barbados’ performing arts scene, appearing in a number of stage, television and movie productions.

Mr. David A. Cox received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of London in 1999 and qualified as a Barrister of England and Wales at the Inns of Court School of Law in London, England, in July 2000. He is a member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn and became a member of the Utter Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in August 2000. In 2004, he obtained his Masters (LLM) degree in International Economic Law with Distinction, from the University of Warwick based in Coventry, England, where he undertook research on the liberalization of the telecoms sector in five states in the Eastern Caribbean. He is a British Chevening Scholar, a former Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers of St. Lucia, and has served as the Head of the Legal Services Department for the Ministry of External Affairs of St. Lucia, where he advised on international trade negotiations and WTO law. Mr. Cox has also worked at the World Trade Organization in the Trade Policy Division, where he assisted in the drafting of the trade policy reviews of Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkey, and Mauritius.

From 2007 to 2013, Mr. Cox served as the General Counsel of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), based in St. Lucia. His responsibilities included drafting telecommunications related legislation, and providing legal advice on implementation of the Treaty Establishing ECTEL, as well as all aspects of the regulation of telecoms in the states of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. During that time he extensively revised interconnection regulations in ECTEL states, supervised a legislative reform of the entire ECTEL Telecommunications Act and Treaty, and assisted in developing legal approaches to the regulation of sub-regional roaming and implementing number portability in ECTEL states. In addition to developing and implementing telecoms regulatory policy for all five Contracting States, Mr. Cox’s regular duties included advising ECTEL’s Council of Ministers on Treaty matters with special emphasis on regional ICT policy.

Mr. Cox joined Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) in September 2013 where he currently serves as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Caribbean. In this role, he manages a team of eight professionals who together, ensure compliance with CWC’s regulatory obligations and execution of its regulatory strategy across fifteen Caribbean states.

Senator the Honourable Francine Baron was born in Roseau, the capital of the Commonwealth of Dominica to a family well known for political engagement and public service. In the pre-independence period her father the late Hon Frank Baron served as Chief Minister and in the independence period and as Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States.

A lawyer by training Hon. Baron holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in Law from the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom. She was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1995 and to the Commonwealth of Dominica Bar in 1996.

Honourable Baron worked as an Attorney at Law at the Chambers of de Freitas & de Freitas and then at the Chambers of de Freitas, de Freitas & Baron in Roseau. From 2000 to 2005, she served as the Vice President of the Dominican Bar Association, and subsequently from 2005 to 2007 as President of the Association.

Honourable Baron was appointed and served as the Attorney General of the Government of Dominica from 2007 to 2010, providing legal advice to Cabinet and government departments. She returned to private practice in 2010 and worked at Sekondi Chambers until 2012.

In 2012, Francine Baron was appointed High Commissioner of Dominica to the Court of St. James’s and Head of the Dominica High Commission, London promoting the interests of Dominica in the United Kingdom, maintaining good relations with the diplomatic community, and attending to consular and related duties at the High Commission. Hon. Baron’s responsibilities also extended to that of Dominica’s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the World Trade Organization and Permanent Representative of Dominica to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Hon. Baron is convinced of the critical role of public/private sector partnerships in the quest for viability by small island developing states and seeks to use her experience as well as her diplomatic and private sector networks to support her Country’s principal mission – transformation to a viable climate resilient nation.

Francine Baron is a citizen of the Commonwealth of Dominica. She is mother of two daughters.

Gabriel Abed is widely recognised as a leading authority on digital currencies, math based protocols and blockchain technology. The Barbados-based entrepreneur is internationally-acknowledged as a pioneer in the digital currency evolution, having led the movement of Central Bank issued Cryptocurrencies and frontiered discussions on the subject of ‘Blockchain Technology’ at the Caribbean Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, multiple Central Bank forums and other world stages. Mr. Abed was recently appointed the Special Technology Advisor to the Honorable David Burt, Premier of Bermuda.

His intellectual interest in Blockchain Technology took root in 2010 as an undergraduate at the University of Ontario pursuing a degree in Information Technology where he majored in Information Network Security, graduating with Honors. Enthralled by the potential of cryptocurrencies, and conscious of the revolution unfolding around him. Mr. Abed is known as one of regions earliest adopters of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and has since been an evangelist in the field.

Gabriel has more than a decade of experience in enterprise grade software solutions across a multitude of business models ranging from commercial grade cloud storage facilities to Central Banking issuance platforms designed specifically for digital dollars.  He has worked with local, regional and global regulators to bridge the gap between innovation and economic development. This has played an integral role in the development of regulated business models such as Digital Asset Capital Management (DACM) a regulated mutual fund domiciled in Cayman Islands. A passion for positive change, infused with 16 years of experience in the software and technology field, led to his groundbreaking journeys founding Bitt Inc., Digital Asset Fund (DAF) and Digital Asset Capital Management (DACM).

Mr. Cotton, a Trinidad and Tobago national, joined the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in 2015 as a country economist and is currently assigned the responsibility for monitoring Barbados and Jamaica. Previously, he was the assigned country economist to Suriname. 

While at the CDB, he has functioned as the Project Coordinator for the CDB Policy Based Loan to the Government of Barbados in 2018, and participated in technical assistance missions to Antigua and Barbuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The technical assistance missions provided assistance in the preparation of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, Medium Term Development Plan (2016-2020) and to the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands in drafting a concept paper for the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund, which was subsequently approved by their Cabinet.

Mr. Cotton graduated from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad with a Master of Science degree in Economics and Bachelor of Science degree in Economics (Specialization) and Minor in Management Studies with Honours. He has as also completed several professional development certificates from International Universities such as Harvard University, United States of America, Mc Gill University, Canada and the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom in areas including: Public Policy, International Development and Results Based Management.

Prior to joining the CDB, Mr. Cotton functioned as a Senior Economist at the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago and part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.

Jose Alpuche is currently Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture of Belize since March 2012. Prior to this, he was a founding member and served as CEO of the Belize Agro-Productive Sector Group, an industry owned not-for-profit company that coordinates the collective interest of Belize’s major commodities including citrus, sugar, livestock and grains. During this period, he was elected as Vice President of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also served as a public officer for twenty years in various capacities including at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on diplomatic postings to London and in Brussels where he established Belize’s first resident mission. In 1994, he was appointed as Belize’s Representative to the World Trade Organization. He returned to Belize in 1997 and in 2000 was seconded to establish The Belize Commodities Secretariat, a new quasi-government institution charged with facilitating reform of Belize’s traditional export commodities. He also served as Executive Chairman of BELTRAIDE, Belize’s trade and investment development agency and as Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade. As Chief Negotiator, he successfully led negotiations for Belize’s first bilateral trade agreement with neighbouring Guatemala as part of the Confidence Building Measures to facilitate resolution of the long-standing territorial dispute.

Justin Ram is Director of Economics at the Caribbean Development Bank – in charge of economic analysis, country strategy and programming, research and economic operations in the Bank’s 19 Caribbean Borrowing Member Countries. As a Director, he is also a member of the senior management team of the Bank. He has over 20 years of professional experience.  

He has previously worked as Supervisory Economist with the Mayor of London and Greater London Authority, as an economist with the United Kingdom’s Government Department for Transport, Senior Global Economist with Worley Parsons, as Technical Director with Jacobs Engineering, and as analyst with Thomson/Reuters. Justin also taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science and was Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI). He has also worked as a consultant on many projects in Central Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and with the World Bank, United Nations and the International Labour Organisation. 

Justin has a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), he also holds a M.Sc. in Economics from University College London (UCL), B.Sc. in Economics from UWI and a Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Development from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Kirk-Anthony Hamilton is an architectural designer turned entrepreneur, investor, community curator and founder of the Infiniti Partnership Inc., Tech Beach Retreat and The Destination Experience. He is on a mission to build a new global business ecosystem for the Caribbean with platforms designed to attract investment, innovation, influence and big media to the region with an aim to catalyze new enterprise and wealth creation opportunities. Participants in his knowledge and opportunity exchange platforms collectively control in excess of US$140 billion in equity and investment capital and to date they have seeded over US$300 million in investments across various sectors. In May of 2015 he was celebrated as one of 75 Emerging Global Entrepreneurs by President Obama at the White House and in January of 2016 serving as curator of the Global Shapers Kingston Hub he was selected as one of 50 Global Shapers to participate in the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. His work and profile have been featured in publications including Forbes, the Wallstreet Journal, Essence and the New York Times. Kirk-Anthony posses a Professional Master of Architecture Degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. 

Kristina Adams is an Aquaculture Manager at Adams Aquafarm Ltd which produces Red Tilapia and a variety of lettuce using re-circulating aquaculture systems (RAS): Greenwater; and Aquaponics.  She was trained in Canada and the U.S in breeding fish, fish nutrition and health, and RAS. She also works as an Aquaculture Consultant, providing aquaculture/aquaponics training, and assists with the building and maintenance of aquaculture systems in Barbados and the region. Her vision is to establish commercial aquaculture farms in the Caribbean that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Marsha Caddle is an economist, Member of Parliament and Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment in Barbados.  Her specialties in Economics are financing for development, macro-fiscal governance, and inequality, social protection and labour.  Prior to joining the Cabinet of Barbados, Ms. Caddle worked as Governance Specialist with the Caribbean Development Bank, and Programme Manager with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi-Country Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.  She was also Programme Specialist, Economic Security and Rights with the then United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). 

Ms. Caddle has written and spoken extensively on issues of economic justice, providing advice to governments and international organisations. 

She is a dancer, guitarist and vocalist, and sports enthusiast.

An experienced Consultant, Manager, Regulator and Engineer, Michele Marius has 20 years’ experience in the ICT and telecommunications space, in areas such as policy and regulation, regulatory administration, technology and governance. She has worked in both the private and public sectors, and in developed and developing countries in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. 

Michele is also the Publisher, Editor and Primary Contributor of ICT Pulse (www.ict-pulse.com), a well-respected online publication that discusses topical telecommunications and ICT issues from a Caribbean perspective, which has wide readership across the region and internationally. She is also the host of the ICT Pulse Podcast, through which to deep dive into important ICT/technology issues occurring in the Caribbean, thus enriching the conversation we, in the region, could be having. 

Currently, Michele is the Director of ICT Pulse Consulting Limited, a research and advisory firm that specialises in a broad range of ICT and telecommunications issues, and is based in Jamaica.

Ms. Nirmalla Debysingh-Persad, CEO of The National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO) has been employed with the Corporation for 14 years, having first come on board as a food technologist. She brought to the organisation a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics (upper second-class honours) and a MSc in Tropical Commodity Utilisation from the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine.. She wrote three (3) technical articles that were published by the Journal of Tropical Agriculture in 2018. Ms Debysingh-Persad obtained several other qualifications in the field of post-harvest technology and food safety. She is also one of the countries Lead Instructor’s for the FSMA’s Risk-based Preventive Controls for Human Food Regulation.

For six years, she supported product development projects at NAMDEVCO’s Packinghouse Facility at Piarco prior to her appointment as CEO. There, she oversaw several projects, such as the introduction of more effective sanitation techniques; the implementation of manufacturing processes for fresh-cut fruit and vegetable packs; and the research and development of dehydrated root crop products and other dehydrated vegetable products grown locally.

A national of The Bahamas, Ms. Therese Turner-Jones is the General Manager of the Country Department Caribbean Group (CCB), which oversees the Bank’s operations in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, The Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago. While serving in this position, she will continue to carry out the functions of Country Representative for Jamaica.

Ms. Turner-Jones joined the IDB in 2013 as the Country Representative in Jamaica. She has over 20 years of experience in the areas of macroeconomics and economic development, with particular emphasis on the Caribbean. She has held key positions in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) including, most recently, as Deputy Division Chief for the Caribbean II Division, Western Hemisphere Department, and previously as Advisor to the Executive Director for Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean. Previous to her work at the IMF, she was the Deputy Manager of the Research Department for the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Ms. Therese Turner-Jones is an economist who graduated from the University of Toronto and holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. She is a United World Colleges graduate (Lester Pearson College).

Ms. Turner-Jones’ vision is that the IDB will continue to strive to improve lives in the Caribbean by creating vibrant economies where people are safe, productive, and happy. She believes in deepening client relations and sees the interactions in the countries as being the heart of the IDB’s work. She has many interests outside of work, including family, women’s development, meditation and tennis.