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The Road To Dynamic Dominica - Fostering Economic Resilience Introduction And Background To The Budget Mr. Speaker, Members of Cabinet, Members of this Honourable House, Distinguished Guests, My Fellow Dominicans, Residents and Friends of Dominica, greetings and good morning to you. Today, I give God the glory for He has done great things. He has stood steadfast with us, guiding and directing us through many challenges. Mr. Speaker, every few years our country has been adversely impacted by exogenous shocks, which have led to life altering changes. I reference in particular, two major weather events in 2015 and 2017, which resulted in combined losses of more than 310 percent of GDP, and now in 2020, the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. But this Government is not daunted by these crisis situations, as with God on our side, we are confident that we will overcome them. At the end of 2019, this country elected a new Government. A strong mandate was given to the Dominica Labour Party and to me, as your Prime Minister. Determined to “build back better,” we developed the nationally embraced vision of a new Dynamic Dominica, coupled with our National Resilience Development Strategy. I take the opportunity today, on this occasion of the first Budget after elections, to again thank the citizens of this country, for reposing confidence in this Government. Today, I assure each and every one of you, that we are humbled by this show of support, and I pledge my commitment to continue to serve and manage the affairs of this country, with prudence and diligence to the benefit of all Dominicans. Mr. Speaker, when we woke up on January 1st to the new year 2020, it was with hope, excitement and confidence that our collective, and national fortunes were turning the corner. We had rebounded from Hurricane Maria and put in place new building blocks on which our future growth and development would rest. In January 2020, we gained more encouragement from the assessment and forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that the Dominica economy was set to expand by, 5.5, 4.5 and 3.6 per cent, for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. It must not escape our attention that the growth projection of 5.5% for Dominica, was 2.1 percentage points higher than the economic growth rate which the IMF was also projecting, for the countries in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). By any measure, Dominica was doing extremely well. At that time, our high hopes were based on the solidness of our performance, but truly Mr. Speaker, no one could have foreseen or predicted what lay ahead. A mere two months after Page of 40 2 the appointment of a new, young and focused Cabinet, we saw an unprecedented global shut down. The world’s busiest cities, highways, airports, thoroughfares, places of worship, learning, shopping, sports and entertainment activities, stood empty and silent. Even as this Honourable House meets today, over 16 million people in the world have contracted the coronavirus SARS COV2, or COVID-19, from which over 650,000 have died. This Government has had to divert significant resources to bolster the health sector, and ensure an effective national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the John Hopkins University, Coronavirus Resource Center, Dominica has the third lowest incidence of the disease of 185 countries in the world, with only 18 cases and no deaths. Prior to COVID-19, the IMF reported that global growth had been 2.9 percent in 2019, and was expected to be 2.3 in 2020. By June of this year however, when presenting a global economic update in the World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF described the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, as a “crisis like no other.” Mr. Speaker, according to the WEO, “the baseline forecast, envisions a 5.2 percent contraction in global GDP in 2020. Growth in the group of emerging market and developing economies is forecast at minus 3.0 percent in 2020. Growth among low-income developing countries is projected at minus 1.0 percent in 2020. The IMF reports that for the first time, all regions are projected to experience negative growth in 2020. The small island developing states of the Caribbean, are standing on the precipice of the greatest risk to our economies and societies, in modern history, with an expected contraction of eight percent. This, Mr. Speaker, is a disturbing forecast. Mr. Speaker, this is the broad background in which the annual budgetary exercise for the Government and People of Dominica, now takes place. I am pleased to report to you, that this Government, which I have the honour to lead, has kept Dominica and Dominicans safe. I also wish to thank my fellow Dominicans for their maturity, sacrifice and discipline and for, in large measure, complying with the guidelines and advisories of the Ministry of Health. In our national life and collective objectives: This Government will not turn back. This Prime Minister will keep pressing forward. This country will not fail. Dominicans will survive. Dominicans will succeed. Page of 40 3 Mr. Speaker, this Budget poses, and through its proposals, answers the question, “In a time of trial, what must we do to achieve our transformation into ‘Dynamic Dominica’, where there is prosperity for all? This is the overarching goal from which we must not resile, or be deflected. The new challenges emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic, have made our policy outlines clearer, and have strengthened our resolve, to further invest in the empowerment of our people. If nothing else, the current economic uncertainties have highlighted the need, to further strengthen our fiscal discipline, and increase efficiency in Government operations. In continuing to spend significantly on areas such as education and health, and in building an economy that is adaptable to a digital environment, we are indeed investing in the very dignity of our people. With that in mind, the theme for this year’s Budget is “The Road to Dynamic Dominica- Fostering Economic Resilience.” The Road To Dynamic Dominica - Fostering Economic Resilience Mr. Speaker, Dominica has already embarked on a journey of transformation. Our commitment to build back better, and to mold Dominica into a resilient nation, has manifested in the development of a National Resilience Development Strategy (NRDS), and Climate Resilience Recovery Plan (CRRP), to guide us in achieving this goal. It will result in us having resilient systems and infrastructure, that will propel our economic growth and development. I therefore turn now to outline our major achievements over the last fiscal year. MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF 2019/2020 Health Mr. Speaker, I am sure that every Dominican who has visited the completed Phase 1 of the Dominica China Friendship Hospital in recent times, whether to access the A&E Department or other services, is proud of the modern look and functionality of that facility; I am sure that they are looking forward, as I am, to the completion of the other phases. I wish to commend the Hunan Construction company for the speed and efficiency with which it is constructing the additional wings of this hospital. Phase II of the project is the construction of the Expert Dormitory and Ophthalmology Unit building. The dormitory section is complete, and is already in use, and the ophthalmology section which will have its own operating theatre, is at an advanced stage of construction. Page of 40 4 This past year, the Louis Pasteur Polyclinic, which housed the Accident and Emergency, Radiology and other departments, was demolished in preparation for the commencement of Phase III. This phase includes a second Medical Technology Building, which will consist of a four (4) room operating theatre, eight (8) bed ICU, and a Blood Donor Center; and the Outpatient Building, and is almost complete. It is anticipated that Phases II and III will be handed over by early September 2020. Phase IV which involves the construction of the Administration Teaching Building and Amphitheatre/lecture hall, is expected to be completed by October, 2020. The final phases, Phase V and VI, which will see the construction of the inpatient buildings, will begin around October. These phases are expected to be completed in 12 months. This means Mr. Speaker, that all things considered, by December 2021, our citizens will have full access to a modern, state of the art hospital, that will provide advanced medical care to them. Mr. Speaker, to complement this the National Health Commission (NHC) has embarked on an ambitious Health Sector Reform Program, that will focus on the improvement of the delivery of health care which will involve among other things, a new governance structure for the hospital. I will say more about this later in my Statement. Mr. Speaker, as part of the telecommunications project being undertaken for the Government by Digicel, thirteen (13) health centers will be outfitted with medical carts, in preparation for the transition to telemedicine and other online based services in health. The emergence of the COVID-19 virus has reinforced the need to provide these services, but it is important to note, that the Government was already ahead of this, prior to COVID 19. Mr. Speaker, we have continued the work towards making our health facilities more resilient. Under the PAHO Smart Facility Initiative funded by the United Kingdom, works are ongoing to improve the resilience of the health centers at La Plaine, Grandbay, Pointe Michel and Portsmouth. Hurricane resistant windows and doors have been installed, structural changes have been made to protect the buildings from hurricanes and earthquakes, and energy saving units and water wastage reduction fixtures have been installed.

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