A revision of the Caribbean Community’s draft Industrial Policy is necessary given the changing global and domestic economic environments, according to Dr. Wendell Samuel, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General(Ag), Economic Integration, Innovation and Development.
Dr. Samuel, who is also the Senior Economic Advisor to the CARICOM Secretary-General, was at the time speaking at the opening of a virtual meeting of a CARICOM Technical Working Group on Industrial Policy on 12 December. Chair of the meeting was Her Excellency Chairme Konigferander, Ambassador of Suriname to CARICOM. President of Suriname, His Excellency Chandrikapersad Santokhi, is the Lead Head on Industrial Policy in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet.
The meeting marked the third time the Working Group met since its establishment following a decision by the CARICOM Heads of Government in July 2022. Participants discussed a presentation on the revised and updated draft policy and provided guidance to the consultant to assist in completing the work on the draft Policy by the end of January 2025. In keeping with the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the Policy objectives, include:
- Promoting cross-border employment of natural resources, human resources, capital, technology and management capabilities, for the production of goods and services on a sustainable basis;
- Establishing linkages among economic sectors and enterprises within and among the Member States of CARICOM;
- Promoting regional economic enterprises capable of achieving levels of production that will facilitate successful competition in domestic and extra-regional markets;
- Sustaining public and private sector cooperation to secure market-led production of goods and services; and
- Promoting a balanced economic and social development programme in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) bearing in mind the special needs of disadvantaged countries and sectors
Please read Dr. Samuel’s remarks below:
Representatives of Member states, Representatives of regional institutions, Colleagues all:
Seasons’s Greetings and a warm welcome to participants of Member States and other organisations to this meeting of the Working Group on Industrial Policy.
The Community’s renewed emphasis on the development of an Industrial Policy comes at the time of a global reemergence of such policies. Many countries are looking to industrial policy to enhance growth and development, and impact social policy, climate change and national security objectives.
Changes in the global economy and our own changing domestic situations call for a rethinking, updating, revision and streamlining of previous drafts of the Policy. The mandate for this work comes from the decision of the Forty-Third Regular Meeting of the Heads of Government of CARICOM on 4 July 2022.
Finalisation and Implementation of a revised Industrial Policy in line with the decision of the Heads of Governments will be key to enhancing competitiveness, reigniting economic growth and strengthening resilience in Member States economies.
Accordingly, we look forward to working with Member States, relevant Regional Institutions and stakeholders towards the completion of the Policy. Today’s meeting is one step in this very important process, and We look forward to your full participation and insights which would ensure we have a productive meeting.
I will now hand the meeting over to the Chair of the meeting, Ambassador Konigferander, Suriname’s Ambassador to CARICOM