By LCN Business Desk
A region that sells more services than it buys, through one industry.
Barnett addressed the WTCG International Trade and Investment Conference in Georgetown on Tuesday, in the capital of the member state whose petroleum receipts reached US$3.88 billion in the first nine months of this year. She put the region's services surplus above US$7.2 billion, and tourism as the greater part of what produces it.
Who said this, and where?
Dr Carla Barnett, Secretary-General of CARICOM, at a five-day conference in Georgetown.
The WTCG International Trade and Investment Conference runs from 19 to 23 October 2026, hosted by the World Trade Center Georgetown and marking the first anniversary of its launch. The programme carries country sessions on Brazil, Belize and St Kitts and Nevis, sector sessions on energy, agriculture and agri-business, tourism, real estate and financial services, and working sessions on rules of origin and on artificial intelligence in trade. Peter Ramsaroop, Guyana's Chief Investment Officer, is among the featured speakers.
A Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development on energy was convened in Belize the same day, per CARICOM's published meetings calendar. The same council met in Georgetown in June, reported in CARICOM Trade Ministers Convene in Georgetown as Global Trade Outlook Dims.
What did Barnett put on the record?
That raising exports is not the problem. Widening the range of them is.
"The challenge, therefore, is not only to increase exports, but to broaden the productive base from which those exports come."
She said much of the region's export growth has come from energy and commodities, while CARICOM continues to import a large share of its food, manufactured goods and capital equipment. On external conditions:
"Conflict in the Middle East and disruption around major shipping routes are sharply increasing shipping and energy costs."
"Amid heightened external uncertainty, regional integration and collective action become even more important."
The Caribbean Private Sector Organisation priced the shipping half of that last month, after the Panama Canal cut its daily booking slots to 32. Those figures are in The Panama Canal Cut Its Daily Booking Slots to 32.
Her address referred to trade relationships with Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Brazil, India and African Union states.
What do the figures show about the goods deficit?
That it widened by US$700 million in a year, to 7.7 per cent of imports.
| Measure | Figure | Period as given |
|---|---|---|
| Merchandise exports | US$19bn rising to over US$39bn | a five-year period, years not named |
| Merchandise imports | about US$42.9bn | 2025 |
| Merchandise deficit | US$2.6bn | 2024 |
| Merchandise deficit | US$3.3bn | 2025 |
| Services surplus | over US$7.2bn | 2024 |
| Travel share of services exports | 82 per cent | 2024 |
| Foreign direct investment | about US$4bn | 2024 and 2025 |
Source: figures given by Dr Carla Barnett, CARICOM Secretary-General, Georgetown, 20 October 2026, as reported by the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.
Imports of US$42.9 billion against a deficit of US$3.3 billion puts 2025 merchandise exports near US$39.6 billion, which is consistent with the "over US$39 billion" Barnett gave as the end point of the five-year rise. On those numbers the deficit is 7.7 per cent of imports. Exports roughly doubled across the period she described.
Where does the surplus actually come from?
Travel, on her own figures, and by a wide margin.
The 2024 services surplus above US$7.2 billion more than covers that year's goods deficit of US$2.6 billion, leaving the region in surplus of about US$4.6 billion on goods and services together. Travel is 82 per cent of services exports. The remaining 18 per cent covers everything else the region sells abroad as a service.
Jamaica's tourism minister asked the region's tourism conference in Georgetown this month to levy visitors to protect that earner. Guyana's president used the same platform to ask investors to spend. Both appeals are in Jamaica Asked Visitors to Pay. Guyana Told Investors to Spend..
Foreign direct investment held at about US$4 billion in both 2024 and 2025. Two consecutive years at the same figure, against merchandise exports that doubled over five.
What does this mean for Guyana?
The conference sat in the capital of the country supplying the growth Barnett described as narrow.
Guyana's petroleum receipts for the first nine months of 2026 were US$3.88 billion, as recorded in the Natural Resource Fund's own monthly reports. One quarter of that arrived as 22 cargo liftings from four vessels: Guyana's Oil Fund Took In US$1.89 Billion in One Quarter.
The programme also carries a session on rules of origin. Where a good is made determines whether it moves inside CARICOM at preferential rates, and the Common External Tariff is what stands behind the region's manufacturing. Four CARICOM teams met this month on paint, cement, glass and bitumen under that machinery, with Guyana on all four: Four Products, Three Assessment Teams. Sanitary products enter at 20 per cent against regional imports of US$85 million, per Sanitary Pads Enter the Caribbean at 20 Per Cent Duty.
Dominica set up an agency for creative-economy exports seven weeks after Guyana named its own orange-economy baseline, both reported in Dominica Has Announced a Creative Economy Agency. Neither earner is a hotel room. On the goods side, Colombia and CARICOM are closing an industrial-tariff deal their manufacturers have not seen: Colombia and CARICOM Are Finishing a Deal Manufacturers Cannot See.
The entities
- CARICOM is the Caribbean Community, the fifteen-member regional integration grouping.
- Dr Carla Barnett is Secretary-General of CARICOM.
- World Trade Center Georgetown hosted the conference and marked its first anniversary with it.
- WTCG International Trade and Investment Conference ran 19 to 23 October 2026 in Georgetown.
- Council for Trade and Economic Development is CARICOM's trade ministerial body, which met on energy in Belize on 20 October.
- Peter Ramsaroop is Guyana's Chief Investment Officer and a featured speaker.
- Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation reported the address.
- Natural Resource Fund is the account holding Guyana's petroleum receipts.
What the title card shows
Every data point on the article's title card, in text.
- 82 per cent. Travel as a share of CARICOM services exports, 2024. Source: figures given by Carla Barnett, 20 October 2026.
- US$7.2 billion. The 2024 services trade surplus, stated as "over" that figure. Source: as above.
- US$3.3 billion. The 2025 merchandise trade deficit, against US$2.6 billion in 2024. Source: as above.
- US$42.9 billion. Merchandise imports, 2025. Source: as above.
- US$4 billion. Foreign direct investment, the same figure in 2024 and 2025. Source: as above.
- Quotation: "The challenge, therefore, is not only to increase exports, but to broaden the productive base from which those exports come." Dr Carla Barnett, Georgetown, 20 October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did CARICOM's Secretary-General say in Georgetown?
Dr Carla Barnett told the WTCG International Trade and Investment Conference on 20 October 2026 that the challenge is not only to increase exports but to broaden the productive base they come from, and that much of the region's export growth has been driven by energy and commodities.
How large is CARICOM's trade deficit?
She gave a merchandise trade deficit of US$2.6 billion for 2024 and US$3.3 billion for 2025, against merchandise imports of about US$42.9 billion in 2025.
Does CARICOM run a trade surplus or a deficit overall?
On the figures given, the region ran a merchandise deficit of US$2.6 billion in 2024 and a services surplus above US$7.2 billion in the same year, leaving a combined surplus of about US$4.6 billion on goods and services together.
How much of CARICOM's services exports is tourism?
Travel accounted for 82 per cent of services exports in 2024.
How much foreign direct investment did the region attract?
About US$4 billion in 2024 and about US$4 billion again in 2025.
By how much have CARICOM's merchandise exports grown?
Barnett described a rise from US$19 billion to over US$39 billion across a five-year period. She did not name the years.
Where and when was the conference held?
Georgetown, Guyana, from 19 to 23 October 2026, hosted by the World Trade Center Georgetown, with country sessions on Brazil, Belize and St Kitts and Nevis.