THE University of the West Indies (UWI) has inked a deal which will provide well-needed capital to fuel the region’s exploration of the blue economy.

On Monday the National Baking Company Foundation signed over a cheque valued at US$130,000 (or $20.2 million) made out to The UWI. The aim is to equip the region with more expertise to take advantage of its vast oceanic resources.

To put things into context, the total land mass in the Caribbean is 106,300 square miles while the area of the Caribbean Sea is 1,063,000 square miles. This data corroborates the likelihood that the Caribbean’s oceanic resources far outweigh its land resources. While this is well known within the region, few have managed to delve into measuring and taking advantage of the region’s true potential with regards to the blue economy.

This grant will therefore facilitate the establishment of the centre of excellence for oceanography and the blue economy (COBE) at The UWI, Five Islands campus in Antigua and Barbuda.

Principal of The UWI, Five Islands campus, Professor Densil Williams said while the centre will facilitate research and development in the area of oceanography and the blue economy, the focus will be on monetising research done on the blue economy.

“It’s going to be a centre where we’re going to use the research to transform businesses, so that was a key background towards establishing the centre. We’re looking to spin off a lot of ocean businesses from this,” he said.

The five core themes of COBE are to: support science, mobilise resources, build visibility, build connections, and inspire actions.

A part of the centre’s mandate will be to create new bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programmes in the broader area of ocean science. In the near term, however, the campus will offer short side courses to help people better understand the ocean and environment.

Williams highlighted that the short side courses will not be degrees but they will help people to improve their credentials in the area of oceanography. He also noted that the centre will facilitate student exchanges, and professorial assignment will see individuals attached to the centre benefiting from the expertise of similar academic institutions within the Commonwealth.

He noted that funds being provided by the National Baking Company is only the beginning, highlighting that details of the work to be done by the centre will follow in the coming weeks.

“We’re in the process of preparing a business case for the centre; we hope to complete and submit that to the university council by April 29. At that time we’ll be able to give you specifics in terms of the projects, the timelines, the value proposition, market potential, etc.”

Studies have shown that globally the blue economy is valued at over US$3 trillion. While there is no specific study in terms of the value for the Caribbean, Williams noted that “If you can extrapolate from a three-trillion-dollar industry and we take even one per cent of that, you can imagine what value that would be for our region, so you’re talking about billions of US dollars that you can carve out for the region.”

In the meantime, director at National Baking Company Foundation Craig Hendrickson said, “For any business in Jamaica or the Caribbean today, it is paramount not only to become involved but to actively restructure and incorporate, where we can, greener policies and practices for a more sustainable economy — or in our case a blue economy.”

Hendrickson noted that the investment was deemed important because “we are all touched in one way or another from the vast blue economy”.

Vice chancellor for the university, Sir Hilary Beckles stated, “It is within our strategic plan that the university should forge respectful and mutually sustaining relationships between itself and the private sector. No public university can flourish within their jurisdiction without the solidarity of the private sector.”

Sir Beckles noted that the university will continue to work alongside the National Baking Company and the private sector at large in building out this initiative and others like it across the region.

At the same time, Williams stressed, “This is going to be a very important contribution to the terracotta, which is really protecting and looking at our environment and how we develop a more sustainable environment for our future. COBE is going to be an important game changer in the diversification of the economic sectors of our region as we look to new sectors for growth and economic transformation.”

The centre will be officially launched on August 1 this year.