Barbados must urgently boost exports to match the scale of its growing import activity, even as the country retrofits its seaport infrastructure to support trade and tourism, according to Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne.
He warned that while the government’s port investments are welcome, there must be a balance in exports and imports.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday during debate on the Seaport Industry (Management, Operations and Development) Bill, 2025, Thorne noted what he said was the “reassurance” Barbadians feel when they see new equipment like the towering gantry cranes on the docks.
However, he cautioned that import-heavy infrastructure alone would not drive national prosperity.
“I was so happy yesterday when I saw these large cranes. And they told me: industry. A lot is happening. That gives Bajans a feeling of reassurance,” he said, referencing the two new state-of-the-art cranes purchased at a cost of $6 million, which are expected to improve cargo handling at the Bridgetown Port. “Except that Bajans had greater reassurance when they used to see that gable roof filled with sugar.”
He stressed that while the port may be upgrading its capacity for imports, there was little indication of a parallel national push toward export-led growth.
“We want to see a retrofitted port that is not only equipped for importation but exportation,” he said, adding, “A busy port should mean a busy country—and we are not getting that.”
Thorne lamented the collapse of what he said was a once-vibrant sugar industry, describing its decline as symbolic of broader structural weaknesses in the economy.
“I grew up seeing the trucks up and down the Harbour Road, filled with sugar. We don’t see that as much now. And that absence reminds us that this economy may not be doing as well as it ought to in terms of exportation,” he said.
The Opposition Leader blasted the central government for failing to stimulate the productive sectors needed to rebalance the country’s trade profile, despite the relevant official’s efforts to modernise the port.
“If this economy is importing more than it is exporting, we have balance of payments problems,” Thorne said. “We have problems certainly in relation to retention of healthy amounts of foreign exchange.”
He warned that without a shift toward export-oriented development, Barbados risked having a port that looked efficient on the surface but reflected deeper economic vulnerability.
“Let the port be the barometer. The cranes are impressive, but let them lift exports too—not just imports,” he said.
(SM)
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