A Private Sector Vision of the Development of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) by Wendy Phipps
The St Kitts- Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce welcomes Government's initiative to host a national consultation with civil society on the critical issue of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). We also appreciate the opportunity to briefly share our perspective on the path towards the development of the CSME.
Given the rapid pace of globalisation, the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the North American Free Trade of the Americas (NAFTA), and the Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) especially, it stands to reason that the time for dragging our feet is over. If larger countries can see the merits of merging their individual economies into a geographically competitive trading block then why shouldn't we as small, vulnerable States take a page out of their book?
Among the key provisions of the CSME is the free movement of goods, services, labour and capital. Foremost in our minds as a private sector organisation is the impact of free movement of labour on our infrastructure. What will be the effects on our education, health, and other social services, for example?
The St Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Commerce is also preoccupied by the CARICOM provision for the free movement of capital and the right to establish business in any CARICOM Member State. The key concern, however, is whether an investor from St Kitts and Nevis can be guaranteed a level playing field when deciding to set up shop in another CARICOM territory. We hope that the CSME would have some solid, transparent system that domestic and regional investors are treated equally regardless of nationality. We would also expect that there would be some solid institutional framework in place to address and resolve trade disputes in a fair and timely manner.
In the establishment of the CSME, the Chamber maintains that a partnership approach is imperative. The CSME cannot be realised unless there is the full commitment from and collaboration by Government, the private sector, and all other members of civil society. The Chamber itself has taken major initiatives in this regard, in an effort to sensitise our 140 constituents to the realities of the CSME through various training workshops and meetings with Members of Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
While we realise that initiatives such as these may not be within the financial or human resource reach of all sectors of civil society, we believe that the onus is on the leadership of each interest group to ensure that its Members are well informed on a matter that is intended to change forever the traditional way in which we have perceived and conducted business, employment practices and investment.
Coupled with our need to shift gears into a CSME mode is our urgent requirement to respond to the new world economic order being established by WTO and FTAA, for example. What this means is that integration of our local markets must coincide with our civilisation of a global mindset in which to conduct business, being fully aware that staying in the game means achieving and sustaining international standards for products and services generated from within our CARICOM borders.
The Chamber fully supports the move to establish a single CARICOM market, as our chances of competitiveness as a regional trading block are greater than if we continue on a myopic, insular, and vulnerable path to economic development. If globalisation only teaches us one lesson, it should be that our CARICOM neighbours are not the enemy. We are struggling for continued economic viability in a world market that is hostile and insensitive to small states.
Tripartism must play a key role in the development of the CSME. In St Kitts and Nevis we know that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has tried for more than three years to institutionalise a social partnership approach to development between Government, employers and workers. As the organisation most representative of employers in St Kitts and Nevis, the Chamber stands ready to follow through on this vital initiative to which we were already committed since three years ago.
It is the view of the Chamber, that the CARICOM Secretariat and its representatives in the various Member States must take greater strides to sensitise the rank and file of our population on the goals and implications of the CSME. We trust that today's deliberations may be a catalyst in charting the way forward in reaching all sectors of our communities on these critical issues that are destined to impact our social and economic development as a Caribbean people.
(Extracted from presentation by Wendy Phipps, Executive Director, St Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, to National Consultation, St Kitts, September 13, 2001)
