Barbados’s Ministry of Energy, Business Development and Consumer Affairs has launched a consultation processfor a national policy for the non-financial co-operative sector.
As reported in Barbados Today, the plans were announced at the opening of a national stakeholder symposium at the end of last month.
Brent Gittens, the registrar of co-operatives, told the symposium the government was committed to creating a structured strategic framework to ensure the sector’s long-term sustainability, governance, and growth.
This will be shaped through stakeholder engagement, he said, outlining the consultation plan.
“This policy … must be informed by the experiences, challenges, aspirations, and ideas of the people and organisations that make up the sector,” Barbados Today reported Gittens saying.
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The registrar urged participants to share their frank views on matters ranging from digitalisation to market access.
Ministers are looking to tackle long-standing challenges faced by non-credit union co-operatives, active in sectors such as agriculture, transport, and retail.
Key objectives of the plan include modernising outdated regulatory structures, improving access to affordable capital, and driving economic diversification in alignment with UN’s sustainable development agenda.
“A policy written without the voice of the people it governs is just a document; it is not a plan,” lead consultant Oriel Doyle told the symposium. “What makes it a plan is your practical, on-the-ground experience. We want honesty about what has and hasn’t worked so we can build a modernised legislative and regulatory framework.”
Image of the Barbados Parliament building: giggel/Wiki CC
