(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) As I said last night, it is a great pleasure to be here and I am grateful to our hosts, the Government and people of Grenada. It is a pleasure to speak alongside my co-chair today, the Foreign Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Hon Sam Condor.
Indeed I look forward to hearing from all of you – and to getting a clear sense of how you think our cooperation can develop.
Last night I talked about the overarching goals that we are setting for our engagement with the Region. Our desire to see trade and investment grow, to deepen the wide range people- to- people links and to work more effectively to help each other on the foreign policy challenges we face.
This morning I would like to set out in a little more detail where I think some of the substance of our cooperation could come from – in four main areas: prosperity, security, climate change and foreign policy.
Let me start with our prosperity. The economic success of your countries matters to us. It will be at the heart of our re-invigorated and modern partnership. Our core task is to create new opportunities for trade, investment and innovation in our respective economies.
This is partly about working together to create the right global environment in which our economies can prosper. I would like to see closer economic consultation including around the G20 and global economic governance. I’d like to see the UK, as well as other partners represented here today such as Canada, the EU and the US, ensuring that the particular challenges of this region are taken into account.
It is natural that we should. We are one of the biggest trade investment partners in your region. South of US, only Brazil is a more important market for our exports. We are a leading voice in the European Union in favour of free trade and against protectionism, putting us in a position to champion things that matter to the Caribbean. Our membership of the G8 and G20 gives us a leading role in discussions about global economic governance – and we know how important it is that the voices of smaller nations are heard in these debates and across international multilateral organizations. And we need your involvement too on the global stage as the region’s key role in international climate change talks has shown. In this regard, I particularly congratulate Grenada for its chairmanship of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) during several key rounds of climate change negotiations, and for its commitment to limiting the rise in global temperatures.
But we can also build partnership closer to home here in the Region.
First, we have significantly increased our development programme for the Caribbean. With plans to invest 75-million pounds over a 4-year period, a considerable increase on previous aid budgets, we see it as a sign of our strong commitment to the region as well as right and necessary in itself. The programme focuses on economic growth and jobs, improving security and fighting corruption and combating the threat from natural disasters and climate change. We are one of the few nations in the world that is maintaining its international development commitments at a time of financial difficulty. We will stick to our pledge to raise our aid to 0.7 of GNI, and you will find us a reliable partner.
More broadly, my wish is to see our High Commissions and Embassies playing an active role in helping you with reform and modernization. The range of issues we face – trade policy, education, social protection, market regulation, health care and tackling corruption and insecurity – means that we have to be ready to engage with you on a cross government basis. That is precisely why such a wide range of UK Government representatives, ministers and other agencies are here today – Foreign Office, DFID, SOCA, the Crown Prosecution Services and UKTI. All of our democracies face the challenge of staying competitive in a fast changing world. That means being willing to tackle difficult reform and it means being smart – learning from what works best elsewhere around the world. Britain is committed to being your partner in this challenge.
The Caribbean has many fantastic assets: its natural beauty, its resourceful people, its proximity to the markets or North and South America, and the ongoing engagement of Europe. It is in our interests that your are able to realize that potential.
We must build on our business links, taking full advantage of the EU Economic Partnership Agreement and greater access for Caribbean businesses to European markets.
This would be good news for all peoples, particularly since the answer to the world’s current economic problems is increased trade and lower barriers to trade. It also means tackling issues that deter investment and hobble development such as corruption, or indeed human right issues. We know from history that this is a long and continuous process, but it is worth every effort that can possibly be made.
We have seen countries that neighbor the Caribbean, such as Brazil and Mexico, take tough decisions and reap the rewards through extra-ordinary economic growth. Working together in these discussions to share ideas on how we can ensure fiscal resilience in these most trying of financial times will allow us to plot a course towards a more robust economic future. These are major challenges faced by highly indebted states in the Caribbean, and I do not underestimate the difficulty in tackling them. Our Government in the UK has had to make many hard choices but they are necessary to ensure that we emerge from the economic downturn fighting fit to compete globally.
As you will know better than I do, there is also the exciting potential for increased trade and investment between the Caribbean and fast growing regions such as Latin America. The Caribbean is fortunate to have a bridge to this region and a partner in the Dominica Republic. I am delighted that the Dominican Republic is represented here with us today.
The second major area we intend to keep at the forefront of our engagement – and it is closely linked to the first – is security. We will continue to work with you to tackle the twin scourges of drugs and violent crime , which afflict people here in the region and in the United Kingdom. Our cooperation in this area is already excellent. The Crown Prosecution Service is already running important programmes which are helping the countries of the region to modernize their criminal justice systems and supporting them to confront the challenges posed by sophisticated organized crime, and there may be more that we can do. We can also learn from the work funded by the Department for International Development on citizen security in Jamaica, which is helping to promote a new atmosphere of trust and collaboration between citizens and law enforcement agencies in some of the most deprived communities in the region.
The third area I mentioned is climate change. As a group, you have played a crucial role in focusing the attention of the international community on the existential threat posed by climate change to small island states. I hope that we can continue the excellent cooperation between the UK and the Caribbean in international bodies on the issue. It is my hope that the investments and decisions we make today will result in a more sustainable future for the next generation. In the environment session tomorrow, Alan Duncan and Jeremy Browne will outline how we will help the region plan for, and reduce the impact of climate change. We will also support renewable energy development and deployment in the region. This makes good environmental and economic sense in a region where energy prices are amongst the highest in the world.
And finally, we are interested in having greater discussion about foreign policy as a whole. We are all affected by issues matter to the whole world because of their impact on global stability and prosperity, such as Iran and Syria, or because they are matters of principle which underpin global governance, such as defending the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future
When these issues are discussed at the United Nations and other international organizations, your votes matter and we hope that we can work together more closely and consistently than perhaps we have in the past. We should also strive to get into the habit of more regular discussions about foreign policy issues as a whole, where we value your perspectives. We can explore these issues in more depth over lunch.
The year 2012 has the prospect of being an incredibly exciting year for both the United Kingdom and the Caribbean. I can scarcely think of a better time to renew our sporting, cultural and social ties than the year of the London Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 50th anniversaries of independence in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
I hope that together we can seize this opportunity to make the UK Caribbean relationship work for both sides and that this Forum will allow us to develop a clear vision for the future.
