Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) 

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a regional financial institution that was established by an agreement signed in Kingston, Jamaica, on October 18, 1969 and entered into force on January 26, 1970.  The CDB’s mission is to “to contribute to the harmonious economic growth and development of the member countries in the Caribbean and to promote economic co-operation and integration among them, having special and urgent regard to the needs of the less developed members of the region.” 

The CDB currently has 25 members, including 20 regional and 5 non-regional countries.  Member countries are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, China, Dominica, Germany, Grenada, Guyana, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom and Venezuela.  Its headquarters is located in Wildey, St. Michael, Barbados. 

CDB activities include, among others: to assist regional members in the co-ordination of their development programs with a view to achieving better utilization of their resources; making their economies more complementary, and promoting the orderly expansion of their international trade, in particular intra-regional trade; to mobilize within and outside the region additional financial resources for the development of the region; to finance projects and programmes contributing to the development of the region or any of the regional members; to provide appropriate technical assistance to its regional members, particularly by undertaking or commissioning pre-investment surveys and by assisting in the identification and preparation of project proposals; to promote public and private investment in development projects by, among other means, aiding financial institutions in the region and supporting the establishment of consortia; to co-operate and assist in other regional efforts designed to promote regional and locally controlled financial institutions and a regional market for credit and savings; to stimulate and encourage the development of capital markets within the region; and to undertake or promote such other activities as may advance its purpose.