Phase 1 of the 2015 CSME students missions begins on April 13-17 with the first batch of tertiary students from four participating CARICOM Member States: Belize, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia.
With the support of the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), the Students Engaging the CSME through Field Promotions Project aims to mobilize and train tertiary students on the opportunities offered by the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Under the project, nineteen students and one CARICOM Youth Ambassador (CYA) will visit a Member State to gain practical experience and knowledge of how the CSME regimes are being implemented. In this initial phase, Dominican students will visit Saint Lucia and Belizean students will go to Grenada. The students are accompanied by a lecturer/teacher and the CSME Focal Point. Other missions are scheduled in September/October this year and in 2016.
The Belizean students undertook a number of preparatory activities for their mission, including CSME sensitization sessions delivered by the Directorate of Foreign Trade, the Immigration Department, Companies Registry and the Belize Coalition of Service Providers, among other agencies. These sessions assist the students to assess how the CSME operates in Belize in comparison with the processes in Saint Lucia. On completion of the mission, students are expected to prepare a comprehensive report on the CSME from their experience in Saint Lucia and to sensitize their peers on what they have learned. The Belizean students have been prepared by the National CSME Focal Point, Ms Tricia Gideon and Mr. Berisford Codd of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
At the end of the project it is expected that 240 students from CARICOM tertiary institutions would have been exposed to the CSME. This is the second time the project is being rolled out having engaged 283 students between 2008 and 2009, also with the assistance of the European Union.
The Community Strategic Plan (2015-2019 identifies, among other areas for priority focus , the accelerated implementation of the CSME, building competitiveness and unleashing key economic drivers to transition to growth and to generate employment and the development of human capital.
