It is some 9 months since Sir Shridath Ramphal – Sonny Ramphal to all of us – intimated his wish to pass the baton of leadership of the RNM to other, younger hands. We asked him to stay on – at least until the WTO Ministerial in Doha. And he did – and to what good effect, for at Doha his was a vital voice, not only for the Caribbean but also for the larger developing world. Now the baton has passed, and this is a special moment for us in our first Heads of Government Meeting since then – for me on your collective behalf – to tell him of our appreciation of his efforts, and of the RNM under his leadership a Chief Negotiator. He is here in another – Belizean – capacity, but we have agreed to have him with us this morning for this special moment.
When the RNM was born some 5 years ago at the 1997 Inter-Sessional in Antigua, we had a sense of great need to come together to face the larger challenge of external economic negotiations, which seemed to be coming at us from all sides. We had the economic negotiations, which seemed to be coming at us from all sides. We had the wisdom to seek out Sir Shridath and press him into the Region's service once again. And how handsomely he has vindicated our judgment. The RNM since those early days has helped to mould our ambition for the unity in facing these challenges into reality. Sir Shridath's initial urging to us that in the Negotiations CARICOM, CARIFORUM, the wider Caribbean, had to sing in harmony from “the same hymn sheet” was to become our regional credo.
So much of a reality was it to become that today our negotiating partners take it for granted that they have to deal with us as one; while others in the developing world seek to emulate our structures of unity. The RNM, under Sir Shridath's leadership, has helped us to learn the lesson that for us there is no other way as we pursue our cause in the harshly globalised, much less caring, much more demanding world of the present.
And it helped us to recognize too the role of rigorous intellectual work in the evolution of regional strategy. In the Cotonou negotiations with Europe, in the FTAA negotiations with the Americas, in the WTO negotiations with the world- that essential intellectual foundation of our policymaking is now an RNM hallmark. It has helped us to find our way through the negotiations maze; and it has won us respect. We are grateful Sir Shridath.
You will be the first to tell us that the RNM is always a team; and we recall that early teamwork symbolized in the person of Sir Alister McIntyre. I hope you will convey to him, Sir Shridath, and to the others who worked with you, the deep appreciation of the Region's political leadership.
You told us last July that you would remain in the Caribbean's service, and I can vouch for the fact that you have. May you enjoy many years of such service in ways of value to our Caribbean Countries and our Caribbean Region. We will not hesitate, on our part, to offer you such enjoyment. But most of all we thank you.
Government Information Service
Belize City, Belize
5 February 2002
