The Riches of the Indies

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This third of four installments of "New Nation in the West Indies", which presents life in the West Indies post recent federation, focuses on economic issues. Unlike Christopher Columbus who landed in search of riches on what he believed was the Indian subcontinent, West Indians have no illusions of the inherent difficulties in their economy. Currently, the four major industries, in development chronological order, are sugar cane, oil, bauxite, and tourism. With a need to feed the populace and with a majority in the proverbial peasant class, measures are underway to develop new home grown food sources, primarily in high nutrition animal protein. But with limited arable land, government is trying to incentivize the development of other industries which are labor intensive to provide jobs. With this film being a Canadian production, much of the discussion centers on the connection to Canada, whether it be in trade, financial investment, and/or the provision of intellectual property.