Bridgetown, Barbados – June 2025

As part of a sweeping initiative to overhaul how business is conducted in Barbados, the Government has announced plans to establish a Business Facilitation Council — a collaborative body designed to streamline regulatory processes and eliminate the bureaucracy that has long hampered investment and business expansion.

The announcement comes on the heels of the launch of Business Barbados, a flagship agency aimed at transforming the island’s business environment. Minister of Energy and Business, Lisa Cummins, made the disclosure during her keynote address at the 2025 Global Industry Update and Virtual Seminar hosted by BIBA – The Association for Global Business. The event featured several of the island’s top regulatory and compliance experts.

“We have heard on so many occasions people complaining . . . about the length of time it takes to go through the banking system. We have heard of so many occasions how long it takes for legal processes to be completed. We have heard how many times it takes for administrative and seemingly normal processes to go through our private sector agencies,” Minister Cummins acknowledged.

She cautioned: “We cannot lose our business community. We cannot frustrate our business community with bureaucracy. Neither can we afford to bring in world class investors, if we cannot promise them a world class business environment.”

Citing frequent grievances about prolonged banking procedures, sluggish legal processes, and slow-moving administrative steps, the Minister stressed the need for unified action.

She emphasised that the success of the initiative will hinge on collaboration. “When Business Barbados, Invest Barbados and all of the government agencies can work as a coordinated growth engine, we will unlock a new era of competitiveness. It’s not the work of any single agency.”

The proposed cross regulatory Business Facilitation Council will be chaired by the Ministry of Energy and Business and include representatives from:

• Regulatory agencies
• Ministry of Finance
• Business Barbados
• Invest Barbados
• Export Barbados
• Planning and Development Office
• Customs
• National utility companies
• The banking sector

Its mandate will be to identify and remove daily regulatory bottlenecks, with quarterly reviews to ensure progress and accountability.

“I want to ensure that this council is feeding into Business Barbados and the related boards coming under its review. The impact of this is meant to reduce silos, ensure that there are reforms across the entire system. . . and that government and the private sector are coordinated. . . and that they focus on enterprise growth.”

The formation of this council marks a significant step in the government’s broader mission to modernise the business landscape and position Barbados as a competitive, investor-friendly destination. (BIBA)