FORMER Prime Minister PJ Patterson says building out the Caribbean’s telecommunications sector is easily among the most important investments ever made in the region.

Addressing last Thursday’s graduation ceremony of Digicel Graduate Programme on the topic of the Caribbean Metaverse, Patterson said “the true impact of the telecommunications sector on the Caribbean region simply cannot be measured, no matter what metric you use”.

Patterson, who had also served as minister of development, planning, and production, and who laid the groundwork to remove the telecommunications monopoly in Jamaica, noted that “we encountered stubborn resistance against competition and cellular telephony during tough extensive negotiations.

“However, we developed convincing arguments that telecommunications technology was too important to escape the rapid and catalytic force in the global market.”

He pointed out that as part of a carefully planned development strategy, US$700 million was invested in infrastructure. “We worked with the private sector and designed and implemented a road map to the information superhighway that included finance, training, and market development.

“The investment of time, effort, and money in building out the telecommunications sector is easily among the most important investments ever made in the region, certainly in the 21st century, for it is the platform of growth upon which the future of the Caribbean depends,” Patterson declared.

“I want you to use your imagination to design the metaverse that you devise to operate in the Caribbean to fashion the digital world you want to live in. I call it the mass metaverse because I want you to think through what the Caribbean digital lifestyle should look like — the good, the bad, and even the ugly that you must avoid,” said Patterson, the statesman-in-residence at The PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy.

“To achieve sustainable development we must drive our entrepreneurial and creative skills which are critical and indispensable elements in our learning as a people. Let’s capitalise on the shared space in the Caribbean creative imagination that manifests as Carnival and recreation in the region, extending into Latin America,” added Patterson.