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- CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett at the opening session of the organisation’s 27th General Assembly and Technical Conference in Georgetown, Guyana, July 27, 2026
- As I address you this morning, we continue to keep the Government and People of Guyana in our hearts and prayers following the M.V. Barima tragedy. On behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), I reiterate our heartfelt condolences to everyone impacted. CARICOM stands in solidarity with all and will continue to support in every possible way.
By Dr Carla Barnett
It is my pleasure to address the 27th General Assembly and Technical Conference of the Caribbean Organisation of Tax Administrators (COTA), a longstanding and valued institutional partner of the Caribbean Community which advances regional cooperation in tax administration. I express my sincere appreciation to the Guyana Revenue Authority for hosting this important gathering and commend COTA for convening another forum dedicated to strengthening one of the most important pillars of public sector management.
This gathering of Tax Administrators comes at a defining time for the Caribbean Community.
The Conference of CARICOM heads of government held in Saint Lucia earlier this month, continued to advance our agenda to build a more resilient, competitive and prosperous Community. We have widened the Community with the recent admission of two additional associate members – Martinique and French Guiana. We are deepening the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); expanding full free movement of persons; advancing regional food and nutrition security through expansion in agricultural production; improving energy security by expanding the use of renewable energy; strengthening climate resilience and advocating reform, of the international financial system, that recognises our vulnerabilities; and pursuing sustained economic development that creates opportunity for all our people.
Achieving these objectives, however, requires more than sound policies and technical capability to implement. It requires that governments possess fiscal capacity to invest in development, respond to ever-increasing crises, and deliver essential public services. Particularly in this period when international development cooperation is increasingly uncertain, sustainable development, more than ever, depends on more reliable, resilient and home-grown sources of financing long-term growth and prosperity.
For the Caribbean Community, this is particularly challenging. Our member states face structural vulnerabilities associated with small size, openness of our economies and, consequently, high exposure to external economic shocks, and increasingly destructive and more frequent weather events such as storms, floods and droughts – fuelled by climate change. These realities place considerable pressure on public finances at precisely the time when governments must increase investment in resilient infrastructure, healthcare, education, food security, citizen security, digital public services and climate adaptation.
Domestic resource mobilisation is, therefore, not simply about raising revenue. It means creating the fiscal space necessary for governments to invest in resilience, protect vulnerable populations, and advance the sustainable development of our countries and region. It is also fundamental to strengthening economic sovereignty and reducing our vulnerability to external shocks. Within this context, the work of the COTA is even more relevant.
Since its establishment in 1971, COTA has consistently exemplified the spirit of strong and dynamic intra-regional cooperation and collaboration in tax administration. For more than five decades, COTA has served as the Community’s principal technical forum for tax administrations to exchange knowledge and experience, build professional capacity, and develop common approaches to advance improvements in revenue administration across Member States. By fostering collaboration, strengthening institutions, and promoting sharing of best practices, COTA has played an important role in enhancing public sector governance across the Region, and advancing the broader development objectives of the Caribbean Community.
The continued advancement of the CSME depends on harmonised policies and regulatory frameworks, and on strong public institutions that give practical effect to regional decisions. Public institutions that promote transparency, fairness, certainty and efficiency are essential to foster economic confidence and support regional integration. Effective tax administrations facilitate legitimate cross-border commerce, strengthen investor confidence, reduce unnecessary compliance burdens, and contribute to a more competitive and integrated regional economic space.
COTA has become an important component of the institutional architecture, supporting regional integration through cross-border collaboration on the administration of the Intra-CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement, promoting technical cooperation and knowledge sharing among Member Administrations, and its longstanding commitment to continuous professional development and institutional strengthening.
The international tax environment continues to change. New and evolving standards relating to tax transparency, including exchange of information, beneficial ownership, digitalisation and the taxation of multinational enterprises continue to reshape the global fiscal landscape. For small developing states with limited administrative resources, keeping pace with these changes requires continuous institutional strengthening, investment in human capital, and sustained regional cooperation collaboration. COTA has become one of the principal vehicles for regional engagement with international partners, fostering cooperation, building technical capacity, and amplifying the collective voice of CARICOM Tax Administrations.
Distinguished guests, the theme of this Conference “Future-Ready CARICOM Tax Administration: Smart, Data-Driven and AI-Enabled for Sustainable Revenue“, appropriately recognises that technology is an increasingly important tool in modern revenue administration. Digital technologies, advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence offer significant opportunities to improve taxpayer services, strengthen voluntary compliance, identify fraud more effectively, and enable revenue authorities to make better use of limited resources. At the same time, tax administrations must contend with challenges, such as cybersecurity risks, rapidly evolving technologies, and the need to bridge digital divides within and across the region.
In CARICOM, our ability to pool expertise, exchange practical experiences and develop innovative solutions, provides a basis for building institutional capacity together more effectively than any member state could achieve alone. This collaborative approach has defined COTA for over half a century and will remain essential as our revenue administrations continue their digital transformation.
Your deliberations over the next few days will no doubt generate practical insights and actionable recommendations to strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency and resilience of tax administrations across CARICOM. Such recommendations could help to ensure sustainable revenue flows to support the region’s development priorities and long-term economic resilience.
Future-ready tax administrations will not only strengthen revenue collection; they will strengthen governance, improve investor confidence, reinforce fiscal resilience, and help provide the foundation on which a more integrated, competitive and sustainable Caribbean Community can continue to be built.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Caribbean has never lacked ambition. Time and time again, our Region has demonstrated that, despite our individual size, we can achieve great things when we combine our expertise, our experience and our collective resolve. COTA stands as one of the enduring examples of that conviction.
As you begin your deliberations, I encourage you to be candid in your discussions, practical in your recommendations and continue to build on that legacy by embracing innovation that serves our people, strengthens our institutions and advances the sustainable development of our countries and our Community.
