World Bank Group visit Curacao.

In September 2016, the government of Curaçao represented by the ministers of Finance and Economic Development signed an MOU with the WBG to support Curaçao’s efforts in meeting its development needs, which in turn should result in policies conducive to the improvement of the welfare of all segments of its society. As a result of this MOU, WBG will perform an assessment of the development finance sector with the objective of building a modern, transparent and efficient development finance sector.

WBG will assess the sector’s current efficiency, effectiveness and equity in providing long-term financing with a view to facilitate and promote increased competitiveness of Curacao’s economy. Furthermore, the assessment will identify and prioritize the efforts to improve the business climate and will provide an analyses of Curaçao’s business regulatory framework, to attract investments and promote entrepreneurship. All this with the goal to create a more balanced and inclusive sector that in turn will lead to increased economic activity. In addition to meeting with stakeholders in the financial sector, meetings were also held with institutions like Reda Social, CFT, ADECK and the Chamber of Commerce to obtain insights into the socio-economic factors and entrepreneurial landscape of the sector.

The visit of the WBG is coordinated by the Curacao Development Institute, whose mission is to execute the vision of the government and in that respect, assist and lead to work towards a sustainable development of Curacao and assist in the implementation of the development strategy and policy of the island including its development finance structure as a whole. The assessment of the development finance sector by the World Bank Group forms an essential part in how we will evaluate and guide projects in the respective sectors moving forward and what incentives we can introduce to help further and successfully mobilize SMEs in our economy.