Minister of Energy, Business Development and Commerce Kerrie Symmonds says Barbados must move quickly to diversify its economy by expanding non-traditional service industries such as cybersecurity, data protection and digital services.
Symmonds made the remarks while delivering the feature address at the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries’ (BCSI) Council of Leaders meeting at Warrens Suite, Baobab Towers, Warrens, St Michael on Wednesday.
He said the country could no longer rely only on traditional industries and had to “reimagine what the economy of the future must be”.
“All of us have an issue with data security,” he said, pointing to opportunities in data storage, management, analysis and cybersecurity.
Symmonds said Barbadians already working in these fields must be better supported and organised so their work can be scaled into export-ready services.
“There are people in Barbados who are doing that,” he said. “And we must position those people to be at the forefront of our effort… not only to solve and map out solutions for Barbados, but to earn foreign exchange from other parts of this region and across the hemisphere.”
He argued that without coordination and structured support, the country risks leaving untapped value in a growing global market for digital services.
“This is about creating a new engine of economic opportunity, but driven by services,” Symmonds said.
He added that the shift would require Barbados to think beyond traditional business models and actively develop systems that allow local professionals to scale their services internationally.
The minister also called for a stronger and more execution-focused approach from the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries (BCSI), saying it should move beyond its current support role.
“We have to move from business support… to aggressive execution,” he said.
Symmonds further argued that Barbados must strengthen its trade arrangements to better position services exports, particularly with markets such as Canada, as part of a broader diversification strategy.
“There’s really no reason why we should not be seeking to expand it further afield,” he added. (AM)
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