(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary- General of the United Nations (UN), Mr. Kofi Annan has joined with the rest of the international community in congratulating the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the formal launch of the CARICOM Single Market.
In a congratulatory statement to CARICOM Secretary-General, Mr. Edwin Carrington, the UN Secretary-General said the Single Market represents an important second milestone in the process of regional integration, following the earlier inauguration of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Mr. Annan stated, “It is my hope that all CARICOM Member States will soon be in a position to equally contribute and benefit from that process.”
The UN Secretary-General wished the Community well in its future endeavours, and gave the assurance of the UN’s support of the regional integration process. On 1 January, the CARICOM Single Market was launched following which the formal signing ceremony took place on 30 January in Kingston, Jamaica. The first Member States to implement the Single Market were Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Six other Member States, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have signed a Letter of Intent to join the Single Market by the end of June 2006. With respect to the three other Member States, The Bahamas is not yet a part of the Single Market arrangement while Montserrat, a British Dependency, awaits the necessary instrument of entrustment from the United Kingdom government in order to participate. Haiti has not completed its accession to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and is therefore not a participant in the Single Market.
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The following represents the text of the Message of Congratulations from the United Nations Secretary-General:
On the occasion of the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market CSM), I wish to congratulate you and the Caribbean Community Member States on this achievement.
Having established the Caribbean Court of Justice earlier, the CSM represents an important second milestone in the process of Caribbean regional integration. It is my hope that all CARICOM Member States will soon be in a position to equally contribute and benefit from that process. I wish you all great success on the way forward.
I wish to assure you and the Member States of CARICOM that the United Nations will stand behind your common efforts towards regional integration and lend its support to the process as appropriate.
