(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers with responsibility for economic development issues will meet under the umbrella of CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in Guyana, 11-12 May 2005. The Ministers will be guided in their deliberations by discussions and recommendations from their officials who are scheduled to meet on 9-10 May 2005, also in Guyana.
The officials will deliberate on a range of economic and development issues but will focus mainly on progress towards the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture (RTP).
During the discussions, the state of readiness of Member States that have committed to enacting domestic legislation to effect the removal of restrictions to the Free Movement of Skilled CARICOM Nationals will be explored. The Free Movement of Skilled Persons is a major benefit to be derived in the CARICOM Single Market (CSM).
While the programme for removal of restrictions is moving apace, several Member States are also working to meet the year-end deadline for the full implementation of the Single Market. In light of this, the COTED will examine the outstanding legislative, administrative and policy requirements essential to ensure the fast tracking of the CSM after December 2005. CARICOM Heads of Government have designated 2005 as the Year of the Single Market.
As the Region seeks to engineer responses to the growing trade-related and economic challenges facing its traditional agriculture sector, COTED officials are set to consider a report containing a proposed Plan of Action aimed at meeting the objectives of the Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture (RTP).
The Plan of Action, as outlined by Guyana’s President His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo, and adopted by CARICOM Heads of Government at their 16th Inter-Sessional Meeting in Suriname in February 2005, points to a productive sector that is regionally and internationally competitive with a diversified field of goods.
In this context, the activities already implemented under the RTP and in keeping with President Jagdeo’s initiative will be brought before COTED officials. The officials are also expected to receive an update on trade issues as they relate to the Common External Tariff (CET).
