A five day ministerial visit to the UK saw Cayman officials hold a series of bilateral meetings and sign one key agreement.
On 25 Nov., the Cayman Islands was confirmed as the official Caribbean Hub for the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. The council is the Commonwealth’s business network and serves to boost trade and investment between member countries.
The Commonwealth is a grouping of 56 countries with a combined population of 2.7 billion people and GDP estimated to reach approximately $19 trillion by 2027.
The hub “will provide a practical mechanism to support project preparation, convene regional partners and connect Caribbean opportunities with investors looking for resilient, well-structured proposals”, said a 27 Nov. press release issued by the Cayman Islands Government.
The timing of the Cayman agreement is particularly relevant with the council’s annual global business summit, the Commonwealth Business Forum, due to take place in the Caribbean in 2026.
Environmental understanding
On 12 Nov., the Cayman Islands Government outlined plans to request that the UK extends the Paris Agreement to the Cayman Islands.
At the time of publication, that deal hadn’t been confirmed, yet Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, Cayman’s minister for environment and sustainability, met with her UK counterpart, Mary Creagh, the UK’s minister for nature.
“We talked about the overseas territories’ biodiversity strategy which is facilitated by the UK government for all of the overseas territories and discussed how that has been so collaborative for all the overseas territories,” Ebanks-Wilks said in a 25 Nov. press release.
Environment, climate and nature were also central themes of discussion during the Joint Ministerial Council two-day plenaries, which concluded on the evening of 27 Nov.
Other topics raised at the plenaries include the relationship between the UK and its overseas territories, as well as the impact of AI on healthcare, cybersecurity, illicit finance and economic growth.
Following the serious political and economic discussions, Cayman Day was held on 29 Nov. to provide a cultural finale to the Cayman government’s mission to London.
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