“Martinique has exceptional potential. What we must achieve with France is to reverse the reversal,” explains Serge Letchimy, president of the Executive Council.
Driven by a history marked by resilience and achievement, Serge Letchimy’s path is closely linked to that of Martinique. Born in a former colonial estate, in a house of packed earth, he claims this grounding as the driving force of his political commitment. An urban planner by training, mayor of Fort-de-France, member of Parliament and then president of Martinique’s Executive Council, he embodies a clear will to move the island out of patterns of dependency and to envision a future based on territorial sovereignty, energy autonomy and regional cooperation.
Created in 2015, the CTM brings together the powers of a department and a region. It acts on policies of economic development, transport, education, vocational training, regional cooperation, housing and innovation. Under the leadership of Serge Letchimy and his majority, the CTM pursues an aggressive strategy to reconfigure the fundamentals of the local economy and to correct historic imbalances in terms of heavy reliance on imports, youth outmigration, overrepresentation of unemployment and deep social inequalities.
This ambition takes shape through a twofold strategy: to unleash local energy by strengthening territorial powers, while connecting Martinique to its immediate environment, the Greater Caribbean.
Making Martinique a regional economic hub
The core of the CTM project is above all to transform Martinique into a centre of trade, production and innovation at the Caribbean scale. Martinique’s entry as an associate member of CARICOM (the Caribbean Common Market) marked a major geopolitical shift. For the first time, a French territory is integrated into two regional economic blocs, giving access to a dual market, both with the EU (European Union) and CARICOM (the Caribbean Community). This opens the way to new synergies with countries such as Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
The CTM relies on this momentum to launch several structuring projects:
• Creation of a 70-hectare industrial zone in Ducos to host production, processing and storage units, with the stated goal of surpassing in size the Jarry zone in Guadeloupe.
• Development of two free ports, in Le Robert and Fort-de-France, validated by the Interministerial Committee for Overseas Territories, to facilitate trade and attract investment in logistics, agro-processing and clean energy.
• An economic attractiveness plan including an international investors’ conference planned for 2026, to present the conditions for setting up in the territory and a future “investor passport.”
• The return of skills with the “Maison du Retour et de la Famille” programme, which enabled 600 people to settle in one year, including 40 doctors and 24 engineers.
Focus is placed on key sectors:
• Agro-processing and structuring of local supply chains to ensure steady flows to hotels and restaurants.
• Health, with the installation of a nuclear medicine cyclotron — the 10th in the world and the first in France — designed to strengthen healthcare provision and develop medical tourism.
• Digital technology, through a fibre optic rollout plan already reaching 30,000 households, aiming for 90,000, and the creation of big data hubs.
• Culture, with the construction of a conservatory for music, dance, live arts and theatre, the creation of a museum of civilisations, and the recognition of Creole as an official language alongside French.
“We must move out of a transit economy to enter a transformation economy, oriented toward export,” sums up Serge Letchimy.
An insular ecological model for tomorrow
Martinique also holds an underexploited asset: its ecological wealth. Overseas territories concentrate 80% of France’s biodiversity and have an exceptional energy mix including geothermal, solar, wind, hydro and marine energies. The CTM intends to draw on this natural base to engage in a structural and exemplary ecological transformation at the regional level.
An offshore wind farm project is under study, designed to guarantee the island’s energy autonomy while respecting ecosystems and fishing activities. The CTM refuses for this transition to be captured by external operators: “I oppose companies coming to sell our wind. We can do it ourselves.”
In parallel, the local authority is developing a proactive policy around agroecology, breaking with former monocultures (banana, sugarcane). An agricultural mobilisation zone is planned to support short supply chains and strengthen food self-sufficiency, currently limited to 20–22%.
Another innovative lever: local pharmacopoeia. An applied research laboratory has been created to test the island’s medicinal plants and develop health and beauty products that showcase its plant heritage. An amendment defended by Serge Letchimy in the National Assembly officially recognised these plants within the French legislative framework.
Finally, the CTM is working on passing on ecological knowledge, integrating risk culture and traditional knowledge (notably the uses of plants) into school curricula from primary level.
Far from the image of a peripheral island on life support, Martinique is now positioning itself as a strategic player within the Caribbean, a laboratory of ecological innovation and a resilient territory in transition.
“It’s a small country, but it can become a country of intelligent power,” affirms Serge Letchimy. “I want those who visit us, who invest here, to leave convinced that this island is a world. Come and discover Martinique. It’s ready.”
