The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) opened its first Ministerial Meeting for 2003 in Georgetown today, a signal development in the Region’s efforts in shaping new strategies for international negotiations.
At the Opening Ceremony of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Edwin Carrington urged the Ministers to use the word “Action” as a guide for their deliberations.Their decisions he said will set the tone for this historic year with its focus on “productivity and decisiveness
Focusing on the new deadline set by the Conference of Heads of Government for full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) by 2004, the Ministers and officials, were reminded that the Community was moving at a snail’s pace towards fulfilling its mission of a fully integrated system. CARICOM Secretary-General recalled that at the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Meetings of the Conference, a commitment was made to removing restrictions on the movement of certain categories of CARICOM nationals including University Graduates, artistes, sportspersons, musicians and media workers.
“Today, almost eight years since that first decision, and even with a final adjustment last year to see this measure in force by December 31, 2002, we are still awaiting its full implementation. And that decision eight years ago was “a first step,” Secretary General said.
“COTED should set an example of keeping faith with the decisions it takes” added Mr. Carrington.
Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Trade and International Co-operation, Hon. Clement Rohee in welcoming his colleague Ministers, reiterated that international negotiations were happening at a rapid pace, and that the Region should be compelled to take sound negotiating positions as well as strengthen its negotiating capacity. “We are in the season of serious business”, he said. “What we sign onto is what we will have to live with for a long time.”
He appealed to his colleagues to avoid engaging in double standards with respect to trade, noting that, “a trade distortion measure on one Member State is a trade distortion measure on all Member States as it impacts on the success of the CSME.”
The COTED is meeting at a critical time in global events, when too the Caribbean is trying to find a place in the world economic system, even as economic indicators for the Region are on a downward path.
In her remarks to the Opening Session, Hon. Margaret Dyer-Howe, Chairperson of the COTED Meeting and Minister of Agriculture, Land, Housing and the Environment, Montserrat called on the Meeting to stay focused in order to ensure efficiency, and to derive the greatest benefits for the Region’s population, especially given the “meager resources”.
Minister Dyer-Howe added, “In this current economic environment, we need to develop a new policy framework to guide national economic development efforts for the future in enhancing productivity, expanding free enterprise and trade, increasing private sector involvement and investment, and provide sustainable economic development in our rural communities and cities.”
The deliberations on trade and economic development matters of the Region bring together nine Ministers of the Community’s Member States along with a number of senior government officials and representatives of the Region’s private sector. They are expected to focus their discussions on the status of the implementation of the CSME, Trade in Goods, Sectoral Issues, external and trade relations and sustainable development.
