COMMENTARY: The Caribbean’s greatest export is talent. It’s time to stop giving it away

by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert

They leave the Caribbean for a reason. Not because of a lack of love for home, but to pursue growth. They want to learn more, see more, become more. They earn degrees, skills, networks, and experience that the world respects. They prove themselves in foreign systems that don’t realize their real worth. Because ultimately there is one place where everything they’ve learned matters more than anywhere else, back home.

Here, their talent can be amplified and thrive, sparking change and introducing new ideas. The Caribbean needs them to return now, so they can build what isn’t possible elsewhere, apply their experience, and create opportunities for themselves, their families, and their island. They can be the person they left to become. They can develop the things they once wished existed. The world prepared them; the Caribbean awaits their impact not someday, but today.

The Caribbean produces world-class talent, but exports it for free. The region is not short of talent. It is short of the systems that let talent shine. The problem is not the students. It may be the curriculum. It could not just change their life. It can change the future of the Caribbean. The region is at a moment where a new kind of higher‑learning institution could become a magnet for local talent, diaspora returnees, and international students who want something they can’t get anywhere else.

The region needs systems that match its children’s brilliance and potential. The Caribbean doesn’t lack genius talent. It lacks the environment to unleash and foster it. The region needs something categorically different, that fills the gaps that other institutions don’t touch. With rapid global change, stronger, more innovative institutions are essential—perhaps a Pan‑Caribbean Applied Sciences & Innovation Institute to fill these critical spaces.

Nations that invest in research grow three times faster than those that do not. The Caribbean should create Research and Development (R&D) institutes and laboratories. The Caribbean, is strategically important but is the most under-researched and under-innovated region. It should establish R&D institutes to drive transformation and prosperity. It is not a luxury, it’s a regional survival strategy and of global relevance. It is not just about science; it is the armament that changes the region’s destiny.

Brain drain is a major issue for the region, causing a loss of talent and leadership. Instead of sending its brightest minds abroad, the region should focus on building research industries. The next billion-dollar Caribbean Industry Isn’t tourism. It’s research. With proper labs, the local talent of the region could make a global impact.

R&D institutes help local industries innovate, shifting regions from importing solutions to creating their own. Establishing these centers encourages diaspora engagement and reduces reliance on tourism by diversifying the economy. It may be the single most transformative step to be taken.

Research and Development serves as a profit center, driving Caribbean technology development, attracting international partners, and creating skilled jobs. It can reduce vulnerability; each hurricane season costs billions, but research could cut losses by half. Relying on imports often delays local innovation and fails to address unique island needs.

Many students who go abroad do not return, not just for better jobs or higher pay, but because their home region often lacks industries, job openings, or research environments in their fields. They stay where their qualifications are valued, with stronger industries, more funding, advanced technology, and supportive networks. Foreign universities offer better technology, networks, and research culture. This region lacks the labs or R&D centers found overseas.

Also, mind the social integration abroad. During several years of study, they build friendships and form relationships. Returning may become emotionally and socially difficult.

Students who pursue degrees abroad are encouraged to return home not solely out of obligation, but to assume leadership roles. Their decision to come back should be driven by readiness and ambition. By ensuring that returning is appealing, and by providing graduates with meaningful and irresistible opportunities that motivate them to contribute upon their return.

The message to them is: “You leave the Caribbean to study; you don’t leave because you stopped loving home. You leave because you want to grow. Your island needs what the world teaches you and prepares you for. It needs you to return because you can build what only you can build and it may be something here that you could never build anywhere else. When you have grown. You’ve earned skills, networks, and experience that most people only dream of, there is one place where those skills matter more than anywhere else on Earth. Home.”

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