(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Conference on the Caribbean wrapped up at the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Washington DC on Thursday 21 June with The Hon. Dr Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis hailing the event as an “overwhelming success”.
He said the historic three-day round of meetings – held under the theme ‘Conference on the Caribbean: a 20/20 Vision’ – will be the launch pad to sustained relations with the Region, the United States and the Caribbean Diaspora.
The Conference, he said, was historic as much for the content of the agenda as the integrity of the discourse and the consolidation of bonds of friendship that were already forged.
“Washington may never be the same again after this Conference,” Prime Minister Douglas said.
The highpoint of the Conference was the summit of leaders and US President George W. Bush at the State Department on 20 June. Three concurrent fora – Experts Forum, Private Sector Dialogue and the Diaspora Forum – were held at the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the OAS, respectively.
At the various fora, Heads of Government and regional officials identified issues, challenges and setbacks in CARICOM’s march towards a 20/20 vision, Prime Minister Douglas pointed out, and added that the Region sought partnership, collaboration and cooperation with the United States based on the “understanding of who we are”.
The proposals that emerged from the meetings, he said, were to be translated into positive results.
Earlier in the day, rapporteurs of the Diaspora Forum, the Experts Forum, and the Private Sector Dialogue made presentations at the Hall of the Americas, OAS.
Heads of Government interacted with the Diaspora during two sessions of the Diaspora Forum. Both Caribbean Americans and the Leaders raised several issues of importance to them and their views coincided on the need for:
- a more structured approach to engaging the Diaspora;
- transforming remittances into investment;
- encouraging and empowering a well-education youth population both in the Region and in the Diaspora;
- encouraging youth in the Diaspora to become more involved in the development of the Region;
- accessing the skills available in the Diaspora to help develop the Region;
- assistance for deportees’ re-integration into life in the Caribbean.
At a press conference on 20 June at the OAS, President Bharrat Jagdeo hailed the interaction with the Diaspora as a success and pointed out that Caribbean people living in the US can build a strong lobbying group to draw US policy makers’ attention to issues affecting them and the Region.
Recommendations that evolved from the Private Sector Forum included:
- the need for the Region to change its mindset to move from traditional emphasis on comparative advantage based on natural resources to competitive advantage based on human resources;
- access to financing on appropriate terms for small and medium size enterprises;
- negotiate mature economic relationships that include recognition of people and support for building infrastructure;
- urgent action to finalise the Regional Energy Policy;
- seeking EPA-type model for any future agreement with the United States with a significant development component;
- strengthening local presence at the State level in the United States through trade and economic Consuls.
The Experts Forum recommended:
- priority be given to education to develop the Region’s capacity to deal with the global economic scenario;
- boosting literacy and numeracy skills;
- obtaining requisite resources for capacity-building on climate change;
- increasing productive capacity, including physical, institutional, legal and human infrastructure;
- moving from a crisis management style to a strategic management style at the level of firms, nations and the Region as a whole;
- continuing the process of implementing the CSME, in particular the free movement of persons;
The Conference on the Caribbean was held during the second celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month.
