The Tenth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), opened today at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana with officials beginning their first round of discussions on a wide range of issues described as “diverse and complex”.
In setting the tone of the two-day meeting, Belizean Chairman Dr. Marcelino Avila, who is also the Chief Executive Officer and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives in Belize, urged his colleagues to make the 10th COTED “an outstanding success”.
“Let it never be reported that we squandered an opportunity to make a significant difference for our countries and peoples,” Dr. Avila told delegates.
The 10th COTED pushes CARICOM’s decision-making machinery into high gear at the start of the 3rd millennium at which time too, the regional integration movement is poised for a major development thrust. In this direction, foremost on the COTED agenda is the implementation of Protocol II, which significantly impacts on the move towards the creation of the CSME.
Protocol II relates to the removal of restrictions to intra-regional trade, goods and services.
The COTED is meeting on crucial issues concerning the establishment of the CSME, as well as bilateral, regional, hemispheric and multilateral arrangements for trade in services in relation to the CSME. Additionally, they will consider developments in the Region’s External and Trade Relations.
Trade in Goods is another of the critical matters the COTED will be looking at. These include Trade in Rice, the impact of the USA PL 480 Programme on Soymeal Sales in the Region, the Common External Tariff (CET), and the Common Market Rules of Origin.
Dr. Avila, who chaired the last COTED, expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their cooperation and “constructive participation” in the 9th COTED, which he claimed demonstrated a “thoughtful analysis of the issues, unflinching commitment to the spirit of cooperation, infectious enthusiasm for new proposals and directions, and sage judgement when it concerned major decisions”.
Member States of the Caribbean Community are being represented in the main by Permanent Secretaries, and are joined by representatives of Community agencies and regional organisations, including representative bodies of the private sector.
The officials meeting precedes a two-day Ministerial Conference scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week.
