The Caribbean United in Excellence Summit, hosted by the Office of the Prime Minister at the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort in Willemstad on 9 October 2026, was built around one idea: the Caribbean’s biggest untapped market is the Caribbean itself. It closed with concrete commitments: a 100 day regional action plan, a formal presentation of the youth declaration, participation in a Caribbean business cruise mission in February, and a target to double travel between Caribbean islands by 2030.
The summit was set up to bring together Heads of Government and senior representatives from across the Caribbean with leaders from Curaçao’s public and private sectors. The program included panels on digital infrastructure, investment and technology, a youth declaration and a leadership panel.
A Region That Still Trades Outward
The opening presentation put the problem in numbers. Only 1 in 7 trade dollars stays within the Caribbean, compared with 6 in 7 within Europe or the US. The region imports an estimated 5 to 6 billion dollars in food each year from outside. Bonaire, for example, produces about 400,000 tons of salt a year, yet branded salt is still imported.
Travel shows the same gap. About 16.8 million US visitors fly in each year, while only about 1.6 million Caribbean travelers move between islands. The target is to reach 3.2 million by 2030. Payments add friction too. A speaker explained that a Curaçao company importing coffee from Jamaica often pays through US correspondent banks, with delays of several days and multiple fees.
Infrastructure Decides Who Captures the Value
Giovanni King of BlueNap Americas described the company as the only Tier 4 data center in the wider Caribbean and 100% government owned. He presented the Caribbean Data Center Association, which links data centers in Suriname, the Bahamas and Jamaica, with Trinidad and Tobago also involved, for disaster recovery and business continuity. He also pointed out that Caribbean internet traffic has historically flowed north, and argued that local traffic should stay local and regional traffic should stay regional. The panel noted that submarine cables carry government services, healthcare systems and financial transactions, and that the Curaçao government is investing in new cables and cable landing capacity.
The Blyce representative said the main barrier for technology companies is not distance but repeating procurement, compliance and document submission on every island. The proposal was to standardize what is common and let each island configure the rest. Blyce credited early support from the governments of the Netherlands and Curaçao as the trust that helped it grow from the Dutch Caribbean to 25 jurisdictions.
Leaders Point to Delivery
Suriname’s representative said first offshore oil production is expected in 2028, with about 500 million dollars in additional income that year and 1.5 to 2 billion dollars annually by 2029 to 2030. He stressed that higher GDP is not enough unless the wider population feels the benefits. Jamaica’s Prime Minister highlighted film and digital content as growth beyond tourism and pointed to the film fund the government has already provisioned. He called for less bureaucracy so goods can move more easily between Caribbean markets.
Curaçao’s Prime Minister named connectivity by sea and air as the starting point for doing business together. He said tourism growth must deliver more value to local people and businesses, not only higher arrival numbers. He proposed that regional leaders give themselves 100 days to show visible progress, starting with practical steps such as product distribution between countries, and invited the public to judge them on what is achieved.
Young Voices and a Living Portfolio
Students from secondary schools in Curaçao presented a declaration with three recommendations: take youth seriously, invest in culture and identity, and expand Caribbean exchange and exposure. They spoke about public transport, safety and mental health, and about learning more of their own island’s history in school. A quick poll showed that most of them had visited fewer than three other Caribbean islands. The declaration will be formally presented to the Minister of Education, Culture and Sports.
According to the event page, the outcomes of the summit will feed into the Caribbean United in Excellence Collaboration Portfolio 2026 to 2027, a living portfolio of projects and partnerships aimed at strengthening economic cooperation across the region. The stated aim is to strengthen Curaçao’s position as a regional hub for trade, investment and innovation.
Choosing the Caribbean is easy to say. The next 100 days are about doing it.