(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) In the face of the current global environment, Caribbean integration was not one of choice, but one of absolute necessity according to His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Delivering remarks on Thursday 14 May at the opening of the 27th Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) at the Buddy’s Princess Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara, Guyana, the Secretary-General also said that Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) needed to change the way they conducted business if the CARICOM Single Market and Economy were to succeed,.
He pointed to the effects of the global economic and financial crisis on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and warned Member States “to resist going it alone”.
“The loss of preferences, especially in our European Markets, have ripped the heart out of our banana and sugar economies, and other export markets are drying up, the incessant attack on our off-shore financial sector threatens to derail one of our more successful attempts at economic diversification, the tourism industry is shaken by the recession, direct foreign investment is drying up and remittances from overseas are dwindling. Even our largest regional economy is facing a depression in energy prices. In such a situation, Caribbean integration becomes not a matter of choice but one of absolute necessity,” the Secretary-General told delegates at the Meeting
The Secretary-General made reference to the strident call made last week by the Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, at the Opening Ceremony at the meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community for maintaining the sense and strength of the Community and the necessity for banding together now more than ever before.
Calling on Ministers to work assiduously to remove recurring agenda items, Mr. Carrington identified the need for firm decision-making and robust implementation measures in order to take the CSME process forward so that the platform for export-led growth could be realised.
“Honourable Ministers, not only is our very credibility on the line and we therefore cannot afford to be seen to be dragging our feet, but the very basic requirements of life are in danger of being beyond our grasp. Decisions must be taken now, not at the proverbial next meeting,” the Secretary-General said.
In his remarks, Mr. Carrington commended Haiti’s efforts at becoming a full member of the Community. Among the matters the two-day Meeting of the COTED will address are the preparations made by Haiti for participation in the Trade in Goods Regime of the CSME. The Secretary-General said that it was anticipated that once the requisite approval was obtained from its Parliament, Haiti would begin trading in goods with other CARICOM States, thereby virtually doubling the population size of the CARICOM market. He pledged the continued technical assistance by the CARICOM Secretariat to Haiti to facilitate its participation as an active member in the CSME.
