The encounter between the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the President of the United States (US), Barack Obama, should mark a new and positive beginning for CARICOM-US relations, according to Chair of CARICOM, the Hon. Perry Christie.
In his address to the opening ceremony of the CARICOM-US Summit on Thursday 9 April, the Prime Minister of The Bahamas said: “The outcome of our discussions today will no doubt strengthen the partnership between us. Let build on these discussions, seeing them as part of a continuing conversation, and leaving here with a concrete set of actions which we mean to accomplish.”
Defining the Summit, held on the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, as “a real live working relationship,” Prime Minister Christie said it reinforced the symbiotic bond that existed between the US and the Region.
The meeting, Co-chaired by Prime Minister Christie and President Obama, is the third between the two parties. It is however, the first specifically dedicated to discussing common challenges in a dedicated place, the CARICOM Chair observed.
Previous encounters took place in the margins of Summits of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and Colombia in 2012. Thursday’s Summit follows on the heels of another high level engagement between Caribbean leaders and US Vice President Joe Biden, late January in Washington DC at the Caribbean Energy Security Summit.
The key areas of focus of this engagement: Competitiveness, Security, and Energy, could not be more relevant as crime and security ranked high among the principle threats and obstacles to growth, Prime Minister Christie stated. He said CARICOM was dedicated to building competitiveness which would maintain the progress it had made it the areas of human and social development, and employment, particularly for the youth.
“As small states, we have long recognized the value of pooling our resources. We have adjusted our priorities to rebound from the crisis of 2009. However, it is clear that the magnitude of the issues often overwhelms the resources which CARICOM can collectively bring to bear,” PM Christie said.
Against that backdrop, he said CARICOM was pleased with the shift in US policy with respect to supporting concessional development financing for the Region in three defined areas: energy, climate change and disaster management.
Noting the high value CARICOM placed on its co-operation and the collaboration with the United States in security, Prime Minister Christie stressed the urgency of addressing transnational crime, illegal migration, and the importation of guns.
“More must be done in a practical way to stop the crime. Let us work together to build a zone of peace; to stop crime; to end the violence; promote our young and ensure our common futures.”
“Our resolve to build a better world in peace and prosperity is reinforced by this visit and these discussions,” Prime Minister Christie told the US President. In this regard, he noted CARICOM’s support of the Nuclear Framework Agreement with Iran in which the US played a major role under President Obama, and the normalization of relations between the US and Cuba.
