Today, we continue to place the spotlight on Grenada ahead of the Thirty-Eighth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. We flash back through Grenada’s milestones as a champion of closer integration among the territories of the Region. The Regular Meeting of CARICOM
Heads of Government will be held from 4 – 6 July at the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort. The Opening Ceremony will be held this afternoon at the Grenada Trade Centre.
Remembering the Landmark Grand Anse Agreement, the genesis of the CSME Once again, Grenada became associated with another major milestone in regional integration. The regional integration architecture was re-fuelled in 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada. The Grand Anse Declaration and Work Programme for the Advancement of the Integration Movement symbolised a new era of integration embodied in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, the Community’s people centred- flagship programme. In Grande Anse, Heads of Government articulated their vision to advance the regional integration process through the establishment of a single economic space, with social and cultural spin-offs. The objectives included more efficient use of labour, natural resources, capital and other factors of production; competitive production for a greater variety and quantity of products and services to trade with other countries; and the resulting improvement in standards of living. The CARICOM Single Market facilitates the free movement of skills, goods, services and capital, and the rights of establishment. The free movement regime has allowed certain categories of CARICOM nationals including university graduates, cultural workers, teachers, nurses, media professionals and sports persons, to move and work across the region. Today, the operations of the Single Market have been further strengthened by several other mechanisms which support the vision articulated 28 years ago in Grand Anse. For example, the CARICOM Competition Commission was launched in 2008 to ensure fair competition prevails with the CSME; and the the CARICOM Development Fund was established to address the anomalies that would have been created with the integration of a market that included larger and smaller economies. Grenada provides leadership for digital readiness When Dr. Patrick Antoine was accredited as Grenada’s Ambassador to CARICOM in December 2013, he noted that “CARICOM is not a project. CARICOM has been part of our ingrained aspirations as a community.” An increasingly important part of the regional integration architecture is the Single Information Communication Technology (ICT) Space, the digital layer of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), which is being championed by the Grenadian Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, Lead Head of Government on ICT in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet. As envisioned by its framers, the Single ICT Space encompasses the management of Regional information, human resources, legislation and infrastructure in the sector to elicit maximum benefit for the Region’s populace. The Roadmap for the CARICOM Single ICT Space was approved at the Twenty-Eighth Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in February 2017, in Georgetown, Guyana. Heads are expected to provide further direction at the upcoming meeting in Grenada. Triennial Award for Women Grenada-born Dr. Peggy Antrobus in 1990 became the third recipient of the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women. The award is presented to an outstanding CARICOM woman whose work has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the Caribbean. Dr. Antrobus was, among other things, a founding member of the Caribbean Association of Feminist Action and Research (CAFRA); the Women and Development Unit in the School of Continuing Studies, UWI Cave Hill; and Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). She has published extensively on issues pertinent to women’s development and has served as advisor to various international agencies and Caribbean governments. The other recipients of this prestigious award were; Ms. Nesta Patrick of Trinidad and Tobago in 1984; Dame Nita Barrow of Barbados in 1987; Magda Lois Muriel Pollard of Guyana in 1993; Dr. Lucille Mathurin Mair of Jamaica in 1996; Professor Joycelin Massiah of Guyana in 1999; Professor Rhoda Reddock of Trinidad and Tobago in 2002; Honourable Madam Justice Desiree Bernard of Guyana in 2005; Professor Barbara Evelyn Bailey of Jamaican in 2008; Professor Violet Eudine Barriteau of Barbados in 2011; and Ms. Marion Bethel of The Bahamas in 2014. The 12th CARICOM Triennial Award for Women will be presented to Jamaican Ms. Shirley Pryce at today's Opening Ceremony. The 38th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting – Opening Ceremony Grenada will welcome the Region’s two newest Heads of Government to the upcoming 38th Heads of Government Meeting. The President of Haiti H.E. Jovenel Moise was sworn into office on 7 February, and the Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis took his oath of office on 11 May. Both will address the Opening Ceremony. CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell of Grenada; Outgoing Chairman President David Granger of Guyana; and CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque will also address the Opening Ceremony.
