NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB / the Bank) convened its 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors on June 3 in Nassau, The Bahamas, under the theme “Forging the Caribbean’s Future: Strategic Solutions for Uncertain Times.”
Speaking before heads of government, regional and international finance ministers, development partners, civil society leaders, and youth representatives, CDB president Daniel M. Best, delivered a landmark address that underscored a pivotal moment for both the Region and the institution.
Returning to The Bahamas, where Caribbean leaders once gathered amidst the uncertainties of independence, and again in 1980 and 2010 during periods of global economic stress, the president drew a direct line between the courage of the Bank’s founders and the resolve needed today.
“The Caribbean has never waited for history to happen to it,” Best asserted. “We have always been at our best when we have had the courage to shape history ourselves.”
Addressing a world marked by geopolitical fragmentation, climate volatility, technological disruption, and shrinking development finance, Best declared that uncertainty must be met not with retreat, but with bold institutional action.
The urgency of that call was amplified by Michael B. Halkitis, chairperson of the Caribbean Development Bank, and minister of finance, The Bahamas, with a frank assessment of the region’s crossroads moment.
“Resilience alone is no longer enough. The future demands strategy. The future demands transformation. The future demands bold leadership and collective action,” Halkitis said.
Chairperson Halkitis challenged the region to pair resilience with strategic transformation, advocate for fairer global financing systems, and place young people at the centre of development — insisting that “we cannot speak about forging the future while excluding those who will inherit it.”
The host nation’s voice added moral weight to the occasion. Philip Davis, prime minister of The Bahamas, issued a pointed call for the Region to move from endurance to ambition and to invest in the next generation with the same seriousness given to managing debt.
“We owe our young people far more than survival. We owe them prosperity. And we owe them something even more powerful. A reason to stay,” the prime minister said.
That commitment to the next generation is strongly represented in the CDB’s agenda. With nearly half the region’s population under 30, president Best highlighted that youth is not only a social priority but an economic imperative and that the Bank intends to meet it with the same urgency it brings to climate and infrastructure investment.
Since the last annual meeting in Brasília, the bank approved and disbursed more than USD 400 million in development financing, reaching record climate finance commitments of USD 226.7 million — demonstrating the institutional capacity to act at scale on the region’s most pressing challenges.
Against that backdrop, president Best presented the Bank’s 2026–2035 Strategic Plan alongside CDB Forward, an institutional reform programme designed to sharpen delivery and expand development impact across the region.
For Best, the numbers alone are not enough. “Citizens do not experience strategies; they experience results,” he said. “The real test is whether we can turn ideas into outcomes and commitments into tangible improvements in people’s lives.”
A meeting designed for action
The 56th Annual Meeting was deliberately designed to go beyond dialogue. Solution-focused platforms — including the Impact Room for project and private sector partnerships; the EdgeX by CDB: Analytics Unlocked innovation forum; the Breakfast Exchange on small island developing states (SIDS) financing vulnerabilities, and the President’s Chat with leaders from CABEI and the OPEC Fund on financing the future — were some of the new initiatives structured to drive concrete outcomes.
President Best closed with a call to build: “Let us leave this meeting with urgency. Let us leave with purpose. Let us leave determined to build a Caribbean that is stronger, greener, more resilient, more inclusive, and more prosperous than the one we inherited.”
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