CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Ambassador the Honorable Dr. Richard Bernal, O.J., was the principle speaker at a town hall meeting, at the Nassau Beach Hotel, in the Bahamas on Monday the 20th of January. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Bahamian public to be sensitized about The Bahamas’ involvement in trade agreements. Particular attention was given to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) – a free trade accord currently being negotiated by 34 countries in the hemisphere with the aim of completing negotiations by December 2004. During his trip to The Bahamas the Ambassador met with the Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry, Leslie Miller. The hour long meeting touched on the FTAA, Caribbean integration and other trade-related matters. In the same vein, the CRNM Director-General touched on these issues at the inaugural meeting of The Bahamas Trade Commission, earlier this week, at which he was a guest speaker. The Ambassador’s presence at the Trade Commission meeting was widely lauded as this particular meeting was the first of such an entity in The Bahamas. The Commission is intended to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders interested in engaging in consultations over trade issues. The town hall meeting featured a number of prominent panelists. Notable participants included the Minister of Trade and Industry and Secretary of The Bahamas Securities Board and Chairman of the FTAA Services Group, Hillary Deveaux. The town hall meeting was very well attended by the Bahamian public and civil society groups. Indeed, there was standing room only for many of the interested Bahamian public who came to listen to the panelists. The meeting was featured live on Bahamian television for some two and a half hours. The event was also widely covered by the print and broadcast press. The heavy turn-out and media coverage was not unexpected as the meeting provided an opportunity for the Bahamian public and media to hear a presentation from and ask questions of the region’s trade chief and get a sense of how the CRNM conducts the Caribbean region’s external trade policy. Ambassador Bernal used the occasion to speak, at length, about the FTAA and representation* by the CRNM on behalf of CARICOM Countries in this negotiating theatre. The Ambassador’s comments – in particular – focused on the treatment of small economies and time-lines, in respect of the FTAA negotiations, which are of special relevance and importance to the small vulnerable economies of the Caribbean. The Ambassador’s trip to The Bahamas is particularly noteworthy in that for the Caribbean’s trade chief it was an opportunity to speak to the FTAA – in layman’s terms – to the mass public. Indeed, the town hall meeting was so well received that it is due to be rebroadcast on Bahamian television. The CRNM’s presence in The Bahamas, this week, was also felt by way of a Technical Working Group (TWG)** meeting on Investment which it organized from the 19th to 21st. The TWG was very well attended by trade officials from CARICOM Member States; only St. Kitts & Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago were absent. The TWG was of special importance and currency to CARICOM Member States as they are required to submit initial investment offers in the FTAA negotiating theatre by February 15th, 2003. In the main, the TWG sought to brief Member States fully on the current status of negotiations in the NGIP, including methods and modalities for negotiations in the area of investment. In addition, it provided guidance to Member States on the preparation of investment offers using a negative list approach. And lastly, the meeting aimed at developing negotiating guidelines for the approval of the COTED on a number of specific issues. Background * The CRNM plays a particularly active role by way of its College of Negotiators and Director-General at the level of FTAA Negotiating Groups, Vice-Ministerial and Ministerial meetings, respectively. However, because the CRNM is charged with developing and executing an overall negotiating strategy for various trade-related negotiations – multilateral, hemispheric and regional – in which the Region is involved as well as to co-ordinate the Region’s position in said negotiations the CRNM also represents the Region in other trade negotiating theatres. ** The establishment of TWGs was mandated by the The Heads of Government meeting in Special (Emergency) Session on 11-12 October, 2001 in Nassau, The Bahamas. TWGs are intended to provide specialist advice in specific trade-related subject areas. For More Information Contact: Nand C. Bardouille Tel: (246) 430-1678 email: nbardouille@sunbeach.net
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