CARICOM optimistic of Single Market by 2000
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada, CANA - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders wrapped up heir ninth Inter-Sessional Meeting here Tuesday night in a very optimistic mood about reaching their target date for a single market and economy to come on stream at the beginning of 2000. By the first quarter of next year they hope to have in place for signing at their 10th Inter-Sessional Meeting the remainder of a package of nine Protocols amending the 1973 CARICOM Treaty that would pave the way for all relevant arrangements to be completed by 1999 for the single market and economy (CSME). According to a draft 13-page communique obtained by CANA on the two-day Inter-Sessional Meeting, hosted by Grenada's Prime Minister and current CARICOM Chairman, Dr Keith Mitchell, further progress towards a single market would be forthcoming at the 19th CARICOM Summit scheduled for June 30-July 4 in St. Lucia. Most of the CARICOM heads of government left the meeting venue before changes were to completed to the final draft communique and an official statement on the two-day Inter-Sessional Meeting will be released by the Community Secretariat today. "Exchange of views" on sensitive political issues relating to post-election developments in Guyana and the threat of secession by Nevis from sister territory St. Kitts, occupy about one third of the communique, with the significant portion devoted to a statement committing CARICOM to continued engagement in dialogue with the Guyana Government and opposition parties. The meeting also reaffirmed CARICOM's opposition to any geographical fragmentation of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and agreed that the Community, "should continue every effort to prevent the break-up of this member state". In an expression of their continuing solidarity with the government and people of Montserrat in coping with volcanic problems, the meeting mandated a special team to visit Montserrat to make an "objective assessment" of the deployment of resources that have been provided by the United Kingdom of which Montserrat remains a dependent territory. The team will comprise representatives of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CEDRA) and the CARICOM Secretariat. The meeting welcomed a recent initiative by top executives of three regional airlines - BWIA, Air Jamaica and LIAT - to discuss as a matter of urgency arrangements for effective cooperation that would cut costs and help them to better serve the Caribbean and in particular its vital tourism sector. In keeping with activities to mark CARICOM's 25th anniversary this year, the meeting approved "education and greater public awareness of CARICOM" as the main theme for the silver jubilee celebrations. The heads of government also agreed to confer at their forthcoming 19th summit in St. Lucia, the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) on four outstanding West Indians. They are President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, A.N.R Robinson, former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Vere Bird, retired Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Philip Sherlock, and the famous cricketer Sir Garry Sobers. The Community's rejection of a proposed strategy to provoke divisions within the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group in the negotiations for a successor Convention to Lome Four governing ACP-EU relations has been reaffirmed. The communique states that the leaders agreed to, "continue efforts to preserve and strengthen the ACP solidarity" by various initiatives including visits to selected African states. They also welcomed the submissions on proposed Caribbean negotiating positions received from the region's private sector body, Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC). CARICOM's preparations for the emerging Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the Second Summit of the Americas in Chile in April which will be preceded by the fifth CARICOM-Canada Summit in The Bahamas, were approved for action. 
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