(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The current global scenario was a major test of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Region needed to deepen its collaboration and rely on regional commitments and partnerships, the Hon David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados said Wednesday.
In brief remarks at the start of the Fifth Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee Meeting on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) on 11 March 2009 in Belize City, Belize, Prime Minister Thompson noted that the Meeting was being held in “challenging times” and warned that the effects of the global financial and economic crisis would not escape the Region.
“…today as we face the repercussions of an unparalleled global economic crisis centred in the developed world, but one which will not escape us. We must again rely on our regional commitments and partnerships. This of course is one of the major tests of the Single Market and Economy. Let us determine to shore up the weaker links of our union, be it regulation and oversight of the financial sector or intra-regional transportation,” Prime Minister Thompson said.
Prime Minister Thompson stressed the need for the Meeting to take corrective action and review timelines where necessary and also called for the completion of the Strategic Plan for the Single Economy in order to appropriately coordinate national efforts to accomplish objectives.
“We have the occasion to look at the decisions we have taken prior to this juncture and to examine their effectiveness in light of the recessionary forces at work in the global economy. Our responsibility in this sub-committee is to steer this initiative to our destination with purposefulness and for the betterment of all our people,” the Prime Minister said.
The Barbadian Prime Minister, as the lead Head of Government with responsibility for the CSME, chaired the Meeting. Their Excellencies, Bharrat Jagdeo and Drs Runaldo Venetiaan, Presidents of Guyana and Suriname respectively, the Hon Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize and Chair of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, the Hon, Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica, the Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Hon Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister of Grenada, and the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, participated in the Meeting. Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were also represented.
The frank and extensive discussions of the Meeting focused on the Single Market Implementation Audit which would determine the level of commitment of the Member States to the CSME, and Contingent Rights to be accorded persons who can now freely move and work within the Region.
Heads of Government have approved nine categories for free movement of skills – artistes, musicians, university graduates, media workers, sportspersons, teachers, nurses, holders of associate degrees and equivalent qualifications, and artisans who have received a Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ).
