Roseau, May 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit, and fourteen other Caribbean leaders participated in virtual discussions with the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris on Friday 29 April 2022.
The meeting discussed increased partnerships and cooperation in a number of key areas, including climate change and security.
Prime Minister Skerrit talked about the adverse impacts of climate change on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), while the US Vice President stated that the United States shares a common bond with Caribbean nations.
"As neighbours, we know our partnership is key to our shared prosperity and security. We also know that we have common challenges," said Kamala Harris.
She also talked about Americans who share Caribbean heritage and said the region has a richness of history.
SIDS such as Dominica are against climate change as they bear the brunt of long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.
Dominica is highly vulnerable to climate change due to multiple natural disasters caused by meteorological events such as excessive rainfall and hurricanes, as well as geophysical events such as floods and landslides.
These extreme weather conditions have threatened the entire population. Dominica has often felt an urgent need to address these issues in the past.
Moreover, Dominica has witnessed several natural disasters, but the Government of Dominica has taken steps to address the development of the nation by directing many developmental projects, which have enhanced the region's infrastructure.
Following Hurricane Maria in 2017, Prime Minister Skerrit vowed to make Dominica the world's first-ever 'climate-resilient nation'. Hurricane Maria was a deadly category-5 hurricane that destroyed more than half of the country's infrastructure.
The natural calamity impacted over 90 percent of the population, and around 80 percent of the infrastructure was destroyed.
Since then, Dominica has been working to build a resilient, stronger, safer, and more secure nation for its citizens, tourists, and investors.
"Dominica has defied the odds and is on a clear growth trajectory post Hurricane Maria," said Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
To achieve the goal, the Dominican Government has formed the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD), which works to monitor and direct the work.
The aim of CREAD is to lead and coordinate strategic initiatives across all sectors and guide the nation to lead toward the goal of climate resiliency.
To gradually increase the pace of the project, the Government of Dominica approved the Disaster Resilience Strategy as an Annex to the Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan (CRRP). Most recently, the Government has adopted a "Disaster Resilience Strategy."
The Government has been achieving targets and around half of the initiated goals will be completed by 2030.
Currently, the Government of Dominica has been highly focused on making the country more resilient to future calamities to withstand future natural disasters.
Apart from this, Dominica has always focused on the climate and environment along with development. The Government neither compromised with the development of the region nor harmed its beauty.
Dominica has always worked to protect its natural assets, and it is all about 'unspoiled beauty,' as it is home to many exotic and endangered flora and fauna. The Government has tirelessly worked to maintain the status of the country and to keep it full of foliage.
Many schools, healthcare facilities, bridges, roads, hotels, and homes built in the region are climate-resilient. The Government continue to distribute climate-resilient houses island-wide as part of the Prime Minister's pledge to construct around 5000 homes. About 1500 are already delivered to the families displaced by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
At the same time, the Government also emphasized the upliftment of many other areas, such as the construction of a geothermal power plant and the International Airport of Dominica, which would bridge the gap with other prominent countries.
All these developments in the country could be credited to the Citizenship by Investment Programme of Dominica. CBI Programme has directly or indirectly benefitted the country by all means, and it also helps the investors, as it is well-known for providing global mobility.
The CBI Programme in Dominica was established in the year 1993 and is famous because of the rigorous and stringent due-diligence process which is carried out for background checks. The due-diligence procedure makes sure that only credible, reputed, and honest investor attains citizenship in this island country.
It has one of the lowest investment outlays, and the citizenship by investment programme is also ranked as the world's number one for five consecutive years in the CBI Index published by Financial Times' PWM Magazine.
