In order to compete with the powerhouse economies of the world, the small nations of the Caribbean Basin need to improve their infrastructure, says a U.S. Export-Import Bank official.

Building better roads and highways, increasing energy capacity, improving port security and providing better information technology can level the playing field for smaller nations in the competition with larger economies, says Linda Conlin, first vice president and vice chair of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank).

In December 6 remarks at the 30^th Miami Conference on the Caribbean Basin, Conlin said improved infrastructure is what financial markets notice when deciding whether to invest in a particular nation or region. When businesses competing in the global economy see potential for growth in a region, “investment will come,” said Conlin, whose Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States.

Conlin said small nations can also do better in the global market when government policies “encourage entrepreneurs to compete fairly under a clear, identifiable, consistent set of rules.” The “good news,” she said, is that a number of countries in the Caribbean Basin region are “well on their way to addressing” the challenge of competitiveness.

Investors have choices in where to put their capital, she added, and the task for the smaller economies, in order to enjoy the benefits of increased trade, is to provide for a favorable business climate that will allow their nations to compete with the world’s “global giants.”

Conlin said her agency helps to expand trade between U.S. businesses and companies around the world. It does not compete with the private sector, but “fills in the gaps where commercial funding may not be available to support the purchase of U.S. goods and equipment.”

Conlin listed a number of countries in the Caribbean Basin region where projects have been supported by Export-Import Bank loans, including Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. She singled out El Salvador for special praise for promoting reforms that cut the time it takes for entrepreneurs to start a business. Such reforms, she said, will make it much easier for entrepreneurs to “surmount the challenges of turning a great idea into a successful small business.”

El Salvador’s vice president, Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar, said that her country’s business community will be helped by the new U.S. free-trade agreement with Central America and the Dominican Republic, known as CAFTA-DR.

“Without a doubt,” said Albanez, “CAFTA-DR represents our greatest competitive advantage.” She added that with the trade pact now in place, the Central-America/Caribbean region “has become a platform for our products to access the U.S. market duty free.”

Albanez told the Miami conference, attended by about 500 people from government, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations, that CAFTA-DR has made other countries and economic blocs “set their eyes” on the Caribbean Basin region. She said the trade pact has prompted business and government delegations from the United States, South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil to come to El Salvador to identify new trade and investment prospects.

In Albanez’s view, CAFTA-DR provides a “unique opportunity” for smaller nations such as El Salvador to compete in the global market.