Member’s Round Table Event with UK Trade Envoys Jessica Morden MP & Paulette Hamilton MP.
The Caribbean Council was pleased to host an exclusive roundtable on September 9th – discussing opportunities and challenges in Latin America & the Commonwealth Caribbean with UK Members of Parliament.
This event was generously hosted by Caribbean Council members’ Hogan Lovells and brought together acting trade envoys, business leaders, government representatives, and industry experts to discuss opportunities in trade, infrastructure, and sustainable development across the Caribbean and Central America.
Trade Envoys’ Highlights:
- Paulette Hamilton MP (Trade Envoy to the Caribbean) emphasised her personal and professional commitment to strengthening ties between the UK and the Caribbean. As the first Black MP for Birmingham Erdington with Caribbean heritage, she underscored the importance of building trust, increasing investment, and creating opportunities that benefit both regions. Her role, as she described, is to act as a “conduit” — linking businesses with the right people and ensuring projects move from ambition to implementation.
- Jessica Morden MP (Trade Envoy to Central America) outlined opportunities in Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic, particularly in infrastructure such as rail, airports, renewable energy, and water. She stressed that while governments may change, Trade Envoys remain consistent, offering stability and continuity in fostering long-term relationships.
Key themes discussed included significant investment opportunities across a range of climate resilience projects, renewables, airports, ports and infrastructure. UK Export Finance (UKEF) was repeatedly highlighted as a tool to unlock opportunities. UKEF guarantees and financial backing, gives UK businesses more confidence when entering high-risk but high-potential markets.
Discussions highlighted the ongoing need for increased awareness among UK businesses about the benefits of existing trade agreements with Caribbean nations – emphasising the competitive advantage offered by tariff reductions to UK exporters.
Support from the Caribbean Council in partnership with UK Members of Parliament are on hand to provide support and resources to UK businesses:
- Understand trade agreement provisions
- Identify export opportunities in the Caribbean
- Navigate the complexities of doing business in the region
- High-level networking, trade missions and meeting opportunities
We kindly thank Paulette and Jessica for their time and insight. Thank you to our members and hosts for joining this informative event.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this post, please feel free to contact our team on team@caribbean-council.org
