Time for Eastern Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce

Dustin Delany speaking at a U.S Embassy reception for the
 Eastern Caribbean AmCham.

Dustin D.P. Delany is an international business law specialist practicing throughout the Caribbean and Florida. A dual citizen of both the United States and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, after nearly a decade as a United States-based international practitioner, Mr. Delany relocated to Barbados as co-founder of Delany Finisterre with Faye Finisterre, a native of St. Lucia. 

There is a renewed spirit of engagement with the Caribbean that is developing in Washington, D.C.  Countries of the Caribbean Basin Initiative together are the 14^th largest trading partner of the U.S., buying and selling more products and services to and from the U.S. than countries of much larger size, like Indonesia. This is the spirit of genuine partnership and the promise of economic potential and development.

For nearly a century, the American Chambers of Commerce (AmChams) have been the most influential voice of U.S. business across the world.  AmChams of Latin America and the Caribbean fall within the ambit of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce for Latin America and the Caribbean or AACCLA.  Currently, there are 23 AmChams within AACCLA representing more than 20,000 companies and over 80% of US investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

AACCLA’s members include the AmChams of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.  The obvious void existing here in the region is Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the formation of the American Chamber of Commerce for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.  The formal launch is tentatively planned for this fall, 2012.  As we prepare for this formal launch, we urge U.S. and non-U.S. businesses alike to get involved.  

Given the status of the global economy, this window of opportunity could not have arrived at a better time for us.  It will open a lot of doors.  Certain synergies have evolved in addition to the renewed American interest in the Caribbean, none of which is more striking than the arrival of Ambassador Palmer, a highly regarded career diplomat with global exposure and solid experience in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean countries are vital components to economic growth across the Caribbean and around the globe thus necessitating not just the need for AmCham Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean but also for its continued and long term success.