MUMBAI, India — Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Hon. Anthony Smith Jr., has positioned the twin-island nation as a leading Caribbean voice in sustainable ocean development, representing the country at India Maritime Week 2025.
Smith participated in the second edition of Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue, an international gathering of ministers, policymakers, and industry leaders focused on advancing global ocean governance and the Blue Economy.
As a featured panellist during Plenary 8: Oceans of Opportunity – Re-imagining the Global Blue Economy, Smith shared insights alongside international policymakers, emphasizing the importance of human-capital development for small island states.
“Our greatest ocean resource isn’t only the sea—it’s our people,” Smith told delegates. “To truly unlock the Blue Economy, we must invest in our youth, empower our women, and create opportunities that allow small island states like ours to lead with resilience and purpose.”
He outlined Antigua and Barbuda’s progress in advancing Blue Economy policies, highlighting the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Ocean and Blue Economy (COBE), which aims to train and empower future professionals to lead regional ocean industries.
Delegates, particularly young professionals and students, responded positively to Smith’s address, describing his contribution as both inspiring and forward-thinking.
During the visit, Smith held discussions with environmental engineers and researchers from the Indian Institute of Engineering and the Indian Institute of Science on potential collaborations in marine innovation, ocean technology, and sustainability research.
He was joined by Ms. Marver Woodley, Senior Operations and Policy Manager within the Department of the Blue Economy, who said the engagement underscores Antigua and Barbuda’s growing reputation as a regional leader in ocean sustainability.
At 30, Smith continues to emerge as one of the Caribbean’s youngest advocates for ocean policy. His message in Mumbai was clear: small island states can—and must—shape the global Blue Economy.
“Antigua and Barbuda is ready to lead,” he affirmed.
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I told you all that these white men gave our lazy black politicians the tag line ” blu economy” to confuse us the people of the fact that they will be selling our ocean bed with fish and oil drilling and what ever sunken treasure would be recolonized, them a sell out are we fish, and the minister in this case just like the CIP passport selling will have the opportunity to travel to far countries to meet large fishing corporation or oil drillers to strike the deals and get their personal cut of monies or involvement in shares in these vessels that will reap from our waters, thats the same thing with the passport as ministers travel to meet mafias to offer them passport and diplomatic passport at that.
Our sea water is been colonized when instead our government should either get grants in infrastructure like the Japanese did and built the fisheries complexes, now we should look to get fishing trawler boats for deep sea fishing since because of inherited poverty from slavery leaved us without the capital,our fisheren can’t acquire these large equipment without financial aid, lease these boats to Antiguan fisherman and on turns let them trade our fishes and resources with these international corporations and create income and employment and taxes to the treasury and wealth in our race, after all it’s been 400 years of slavery and now perpetual menial jobs and services, this stance by Anthony smith to do exactly what Gaston and the ALP is doing shows me that all our politicians whether ALP or UPP has the same white handlers, it’s paternalistic supervision, as black people under the ethno supremacists doctrine we are supposed to subject ourselves to white supervision, never work in interest of the people, but for white monopoly capital domination.