The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) has closed out its flagship Caribbean event series, bringing together senior executives and public sector officials from Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago to tackle economic pressures and strengthen supply chain resilience across the region.
Billed as CIPS’s premier gathering for the Caribbean, the series combined talks from leading regional experts with interactive workshops and networking sessions. Discussions centred on how organisations can navigate ongoing market pressures, restore trust in trade relationships, and build procurement leadership frameworks suited to the realities of doing business in the Caribbean.
One theme that ran through the series was the rising profile of procurement professionals within the region’s boardrooms. Organisers pointed to TSTT’s Keino Cox, who moved from Chief Procurement Officer to Chief Executive Officer, as a prime example of procurement leaders increasingly stepping into the C-suite, a shift CIPS says it is working to accelerate through its regional leadership development programmes.
The series wrapped up with a flagship session in Trinidad featuring a lineup of keynotes and panels:
- Olufemi Raheem of Atlantic LNG opened proceedings.
- TSTT’s Keino Cox spoke on digital transformation in regional supply chains.
- A session on resilience in supply chains brought together Daniel Devaux of Shell and Kabron Henry of BP, hosted by former CPO Savita Mace FCIPS.
- John Dickson, former CPO of AstraZeneca, addressed adaptive leadership in a session titled “Leading in Times of Change.”
- Justice Gillian Lucky examined judicial and ethical frameworks in procurement under the theme “When Trust Erodes, Trade Stops.”
- Davis Kanju of Atlantic LNG and Joannah Nelson of Proman Energy explored stakeholder perspectives in a session called “The Stakeholder Lens.”
- Stuart Milligan of Ramps Logistics spoke on innovation in logistics.
- The day closed with a panel on building Caribbean leadership, featuring Amoy Van Lowe, John Dickson and Savita Mace.