(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Hon. Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago said that with the implementation of the Single Market and later, the Single Economy, the Community was now set to fully develop its potential and build on its strengths. He told Heads of Government at the opening of the 17th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference in Port-of-Spain, today, Thursday 9 February: “Our economies shall now become more resilient, with greater capacity for self-generation and more attractive for the inflow of new capital. More even development is now certainly in the offering.” The CARICOM Chairman said the Region “would now bring greater value to the table and be in a stronger position to negotiate partnerships for development in this intensely interdependent world. Our voice is now strengthened at all multilateral fora and we have now added further dignity to our international aura.” Prime Minister Manning added, “There are certain inescapable realities which can produce intractable underdevelopment in some of our countries before the benefits of the Single Market and Economy set in. We must recognise and deal with these if the attainment of our dream is not to be deferred.”
