(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The absolute urgency for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to have the capacity to act, and to do so in unison in the current global situation was underscored Thursday by His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM.
In remarks at the brief opening ceremony of the Twentieth Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, in Belize, the Secretary-General reflected on the international financial and economic situation and its effects on the Region, and acknowledged that it was the “greatest crisis in most of our lifetimes”.
“In our Region, the effects are manifold and are being experienced almost on a daily basis. For example, our major industry, tourism industry had been severely affected even within its most lucrative winder season period. This has led to negative spin-off effects in related industries and activities, such as transportation (both air and land), handicraft creation and sales and entertainment. This in turn has caused significant loss of employment and income for the self-employed in the sector,” the Secretary-General said.
He pointed out that remittances had dwindled to pittances and that the energy sector had been adversely affected as both demand and prices had fallen.
The Secretary-General also spoke of the problems regarding Colonial Life Financial and the Stanford Group, describing the developments as “two earthquakes” that had rattled the Region’s financial sector. He noted the steps that had been taken by governments to restore confidence in their economies and also pointed to the approaches the Community had taken to confront the challenges facing the regional economy.
He stressed that the CARICOM Single Market and Economy could not be governed and regulated by national instruments and institutions alone and pointed out that Pan-CARICOM enterprise demanded a Pan CARICOM regulatory jurisdiction.
The global financial and economic crisis is one of the main agenda items of the two-day Intersessional Meeting being held at the Radisson Hotel, Fort George in Belize City and Heads of Government buckled down to discussions shortly after opening remarks by the Secretary-General and by the Hon Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize and Chairman of the Community.
While the Secretary-General noted that the Community should not be perceived only in terms of crisis prevention and mitigation, he pointed to the capacity and viability of the integration movement in areas including Sustainable Development, one of the other key matters the Heads will address.
He was confident that the deliberations of the Heads of Government had the potential to create a significant impact throughout the Community and in the wider hemispheric and global plane.
