WITH THE cancellation of the Commonwealth Summit, originally scheduled for Brisbane, Australia from October 6-9, the heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have decided to bring forward arrangements for their special summit next month.

This CARICOM Summit, which will be attended by President Bharrat Jagdeo, is now likely to take place in The Bahamas on October 11-12, according to current indications from a number of heads of government. The leaders were previously planning to meet towards the end of October.

The special summit is being organised for CARICOM to assess the implications of America's "war on terrorism" following the September 11 tragedies in New York and Washington.

CARICOM states that are heavily dependent on foreign tourism and, to a lesser extent, the financial services sector, feel particularly threatened by policy measures being pursued by the USA in its planned war against terrorism.

Some countries in the Eastern Caribbean have been holding special consultations with a view to evolving a consensual approach on how best to minimise the impact on their economies as a consequence of the September 11 terrorists' strikes.

Guyana's is not a tourism-dependent economy, but it too remains vulnerable to the emerging problems for all economies and would be expected to come up with ideas of its own at the special CARICOM Summit.

Meeting Stakeholders
The President should consider the value of having a special meeting before going to the Nassau Summit with at least a core group of stakeholders' representatives.

The idea is to get their own responses on the economic implications of the US-driven 'war against terrorism' that impacts not just on air transportation, tourism and services sector, but also on manufacturing, regional/international trade and agriculture with concerns for food security.

In the circumstances, new forms of cooperation between the government and the private sector and the labour movement have to be explored with the overall strategy being to cushion as much as possible the negative impact of international developments that flow directly from the reckless, callous, murderous acts of the terrorists on September 11.

Beefing up security, not just at international airports, will also be one of the issues for consideration at the planned special summit.

While there are varying levels of development among CARICOM states, and some are more vulnerable to international market forces than others, it is clearly desirable that the heads of government come up with joint strategies that will ultimately benefit the region as a whole.

We await more precise details on the agenda for the special summit. But it is good to know that the Community leaders have decided that it is better to meet as soon as possible since, in a way, we are all in the same canoe in a turbulent sea.