CAF, Barbados Launch Spanish Initiative to Boost Competitiveness

CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean has launched a pioneering initiative to support a whole-of-government approach and a nation-wide movement towards increased Spanish proficiency with the launch of its SOMOS - Spanish Opens More OpportunitieS initiative. The multi-lateral development bank hosted a High-Level Dialogue entitled, “Promoting the Teaching and Learning of Spanish for Increased Competitiveness,” which produced key outcomes to support the creation of a national framework for increased use of the Spanish language across all sectors.

Among the outcomes, government agreed to establish an Inter-Ministerial Working Group with participation from key stakeholders to coordinate the initiative and guide the development of a national strategy and roadmap towards increased Spanish proficiency. It was also agreed that in addition to financial and technical support from CAF, diplomatic missions, the private sector, academia and other partners, government Ministries and state agencies should allocate budgetary resources during the 2026 budget process to advance Spanish language learning for their staff as well as a public education campaign. All participating organisations will designate a technical focal point to help coordinate the simultaneous implementation of a multi-track Spanish proficiency programme. A key component will be the preparation of a Communication and Awareness Plan to increase public education about the benefits of Spanish proficiency as a tool for increased business opportunities across multiple sectors. Together, these actions represent the first whole-of-government effort in the English-speaking Caribbean supported by a multilateral development bank to position Spanish proficiency as a strategic tool to accelerate education transformation, tourism, trade, foreign direct investment and competitiveness.

The high-level dialogue held at the Wyndham Grand Barbados, focused on developing an integrated and coordinated approach to Spanish language proficiency, embedding the benefits of multilingual capability into the national development agenda. The goal is to ensure that Spanish is promoted not only as a subject that is taught in schools but as a communication skill for all, and as a strategic asset that can accelerate national targets for trade, tourism, international business, diplomacy, human capital development and overall national and regional competitiveness.

The meeting brought together Cabinet Ministers, senior government officials, academia, private sector leaders, and members of the diplomatic corps to discuss a coordinated framework for expanding the use of Spanish in priority sectors.

In his opening remarks, Hon. Ryan Straughn, Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, noted that although Spanish is intended to be Barbados’ second language, implementation has remained a challenge.  

“You can be assured that the Ministry of Finance will absolutely fully support these initiatives, because it is important for the future of Barbados,” he stated. “I really want to thank CAF for bringing all of you here today, because we have the business community, senior officials from the Ministry of Educational Transformation and certainly the Ministry of Training and tertiary education, because I believe this is the first time that we've had all of the stakeholders in the same place at the same time to chart a course for how we're going to make this happen,” Minister Straughn stated.

Hon. Chad Blackman, Minister of Educational Transformation announced that the Ministry will soon launch its official website in Spanish as part of efforts to integrate Spanish language capability across the national ecosystem.

“Barbados must start introducing Spanish from the early years and create learning environments where language becomes part of how children experience the world,” Minister Blackman stated. We must aim to become a multilingual society, one where Spanish is lived and used naturally across education, culture, sport, and daily life. Music and sports, especially, can be powerful motivators for young people. If we get this right, we can ignite a generation with the confidence to engage across Latin America and beyond.”

Two keynote presentations were delivered by Pablo Bartol, Social and Human Development Manager at CAF and Sarah Stanton, Education Promotion Manager at the Inter-American Dialogue. They highlighted examples of multisectoral approaches in other countries which have been quite effective in expanding the use of a foreign language at scale. They explained the importance of investing in a cross-sectoral approach to boost language proficiency and achieve stronger results nationally.

An outcome document capturing the recommendations from the Dialogue will serve as the foundation for guiding the next steps towards the development of a roadmap for a national framework to strengthen Spanish proficiency. Building on the outcomes of the Dialogue, CAF has already committed approximately BDS 200,000 (USD 100,000) in grant funding to jumpstart this initiative. The funding will support a Spanish immersion programme for teachers and students, designed to strengthen language proficiency and cultural exchange and the preparation of a diagnostic study as well as an implementation road map.

Minister of Training and Tertiary Education, Hon. Sandra Husbands, expressed her full support for the initiative, particularly the implementation of a communication plan to ensure greater public awareness of the importance of Spanish language learning.

“Unless we give people a deep reason why we have to broaden how we operate, that is the only way we're going to get them to understand Spanish is an imperative,” she stated. “And so, I would like to suggest that before we launch the actual Spanish teaching and learning as a whole of country approach, that we spend a few months building out a promotional campaign that targets all of the different interest groups to help them to understand the importance of this."

In her opening remarks, Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy, CAF’s Regional Manager for the Caribbean and Representative in Barbados, stated that although Barbados and Latin America share a long and interconnected history, language too often remains a barrier that limits our ability to cooperate meaningfully and to take advantage of the many mutual opportunities waiting to be unlocked.  

“SOMOS is a pioneering initiative that CAF has been rolling out across the Caribbean,” stated Dr. Richards-Kennedy. It is an initiative born from a simple but powerful idea, that by strengthening Spanish language proficiency, we build trust, we deepen relationships, and we strengthen our ability to do trade, tourism, joint research and innovation, to not just talk collaboration but to practise collaboration and to boost business opportunities between our regions.”

The Ministries of Finance; Educational Transformation; Training and Tertiary Education; Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology; Tourism, Energy and Business and Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade were represented. The High-Level Dialogue also convened key national and regional stakeholders from across the public and private sectors, academia, and the diplomatic community. Participants included representatives from the tourism, export, and business promotion agencies, such as the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Invest Barbados, and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., among others. The session also brought together the heads of diplomatic missions of Panama, Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, along with representatives from academia, including the Department of Modern Languages of The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and the Barbados Community College.

SOMOS - Spanish Opens More OpportunitieS is CAF’s regional programme that seeks to enhance national competitiveness, expand trade and tourism, and strengthen regional integration through greater Spanish language proficiency across the English-speaking Caribbean.