Caribbean Economics Quarterly: Volume 15, Issue 1: Catalyzing Capital: Public Private Partnerships for Resilient Growth

This edition of the IDB Caribbean Economics Quarterly is a collaboration between the Caribbean Country Department, ONE Caribbean Unit, Infrastructure and Energy Department, and IDB Invest. It focuses on the extraordinary opportunity that countries now have to catalyze new and more abundant flows of finance, knowledge, and expertise for productive investment. This opportunity is linked to the significant and persistent infrastructure needs of Caribbean countries, and the critical role that adequate, resilient, and climate-smart infrastructure can play in driving faster and more inclusive growth. This report considers long-term economic and productivity trends, and highlights research from the IDB that estimates infrastructure adequacy and investment gaps across Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes key sectors such as water and sanitation, electricity, transportation, and telecommunications, including investments required to make progress towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We also focus on research and diagnostics of the enabling environment for private investment, and the potential benefits of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which have proven transformational in other regions. Results of the latest IDB-Economist Impact Infrascope diagnostic suggest that, while there has been progress in recent years in improving the enabling environment for private investment and PPPs, many Caribbean countries still face daunting challenges. This edition also highlights the new ONE Caribbean Framework, which aims at supporting faster and more inclusive growth, including via a Project Preparation Coordination Mechanism, designed to catalyze new and more abundant sources of private capital by helping to develop technically sound and financially viable investment proposals.