Caribbean Economic Forum 2026: The inaugural Caribbean Economic Forum in Barbados (18–19 June) brought together global investors and regional leaders, pitching the Caribbean as a unified, investment-ready market after estimating participants represent over US$24 trillion in assets and lending capacity. Telecom & Utilities: A major Flow outage disrupted mobile and internet services across parts of Saint Lucia and Dominica, triggering a crisis response as engineers worked to restore communications. Household pressure: Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet urged action on rising utility bills after recent rate increases, while the government said fuel and LPG prices will stay steady under the modified pass-through mechanism (gasoline/diesel at $16.75 per imperial gallon; 20-lb LPG at $34.00). Tourism & energy resilience: SLHTA re-elected Erwin Louisy as president through 2028, with utilities resilience a key theme; NURC and tourism leaders stressed planning for water, energy and telecom needs as growth continues. Solar & agriculture: GIZ issued an EOI for grid-tied solar PV systems (10 sites, ~111 kW total) with installation planned Aug 2026–Feb 2027; Saint Lucia farmers also received Taiwan-backed guava grafting training and irrigation support for Chassin. Regional finance & food security: IFC will invest up to US$15m into the Caribbean Community Resilience Fund debt sub-fund, while CARICOM leaders push food security strategies ahead of Saint Lucia’s upcoming CARICOM Heads meeting.