Madam Chair,
Hon. Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis
Other Ministers of Finance and Planning
Central Bank Governors
Representatives of International, Hemispheric and Regional Organisations
Distinguished Delegates and Officials
Staff of the Caribbean Community Secretariat
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
As Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, it gives me great pleasure to join the Hon. Prime Minister in welcoming you to this, the Ninth Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP), and to make a few remarks.
First of all I wish to thank the Hon. Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis not only for his very kind words of welcome, but for his agreement at very short notice, for St. Kitts and Nevis to host this series of Caribbean Community Meetings. It is the mark of a truly committed regionalist.
Ladies and Gentlemen, events over the last couple of months have constituted a very difficult political period for the Community as a whole. It is therefore good to know that notwithstanding, we can still focus on subjects such as core macro-economic policy issues that are critical for the forging of a Single Economy. We are aware that country participation at this Meeting has been adversely affected by the pre-occupation of certain countries with electioneering and budgetary preparation, among other things. Having said that, however there is no doubt that there is a need for a re-dedication and re-commitment to fuller attendance and participation on the part of the Ministerial Members of COFAP, so as to accelerate the deepening of the integration process – an objective for which this body has central responsibility.
Madam Chair, I would like to thank the Delegates and other Officials who have laboured over the past two days on a number of important issues. High on the Agenda of today’s Ministerial segment is the Regional Stabilisation Fund. It would be remembered that despite the commitment in principle at the last Heads of Government Meeting by 12 countries to contribute to the Fund, there was a number of still unresolved issues. Three such issues were the following:
(i) fine tuning of the contributions formula, the size and timing of the contributions, and the form in which the contributions would be made;
(ii) the modalities for the setting up of the Fund as a separate legal entity and the related administrative functions;
(iii) a more detailed determination of the operations of the Board and of the Advisory Joint Technical Team;
It is hoped that this Meeting of Ministers of Finance and Planning would give some direction towards a strategy for resolving these issues, so as to have the Fund up and running without undue delay. Despite the general CARICOM economic growth in the year 2003 being somewhat better than the performance in 2002, the Caribbean economies continue to be susceptible and vulnerable to external economic shocks and the need for a Regional Stabilisation Fund remains as great as ever, particularly as a result of the increasing global and hemispheric integration process and related erosion of preferences being experienced by the Region.
Still on the important subject of stabilization, COFAP Members would do well to continue their financial and technical assistance to Dominica, in order to ensure that that country achieves a certain degree of economic growth, and so escape from the clutches of a low-income equilibrium trap.
Our Agenda today also covers a number of the major macro-economic policy areas, including Monetary Policy Coordination, Financial Services Policy Harmonisation, Fiscal Policy Coordination and Investment Policy Harmonisation. We note the significant progress that is taking place in some of these areas. The purpose of this COFAP Meeting therefore is to ensure that the momentum is sustained towards the stage where legal instruments can be prepared and implementation modalities set in train.
On the subject of expediting the movement towards a CARICOM Single Market and Economy, this COFAP Meeting would have facilitated a not insignificant achievement, if agreement could be reached on the specific form and structure that should inform the creation of a truly Integrated CARICOM Stock Exchange Market. Another important contribution would be made if a strategy could be agreed on for increasing the rate of disbursement out of the Caribbean Investment Fund, which only invested 37% of the funds in the first two years. It must be recalled that the original Fund commitment was to invest 75% of the first tranche of resources within the first two years of operation. Such a strategy should also address the issues of governance and transparency.
This Meeting would have been truly fruitful also if Member States were to agree on a course of action, including submitting their comments on the recommendations, so that investment policy harmonisation can be advanced and the Community Investment Policy could be in place by the end of 2004. Similarly, it would be more than useful if Member States’ comments on the Draft Financial Services Agreement, can be received by the agreed mid-May deadline, so as to further the integration process in this very important and sensitive sector.
While I have not touched on all of the issues, it is obvious that our Agenda is a very challenging one and we need to apply all our concentration and collective energy and experience to the task at hand.
Madam Chair, with these few words, I would like to end by thanking the Distinguished Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner, for graciously making the Institution’s conference facilities available to us for the series of regional Meetings this week and by wishing you and this Meeting of COFAP IX all success.
