Caribbean clinches entree to UK govt/TITLE> <script language="JavaScript" SRC="gyj11.js"></script> <script language="JavaScript" SRC="gyj12.js"></script> <script language="JavaScript" SRC="gyj13.js"></script> <script language="JavaScript" SRC="../gynews.js"></SCRIPT> </HEAD> <script language="JavaScript">  </script> Caribbean clinches entree to UK govt <br> More work to be done on investment scheme </H3> </CENTER> By Andrew Richards<br> <font face="arial" size="2"> <FONT COLOR="yellow" SIZE="+1"><a href="http://www.stabroeknews.com">Stabroek News</a></FONT><br> April 6, 2002<br> <hr> <table> <tr> <td><b><i>Related Links:</i></b></td> <td align = "right"><a href="../gy3cuk.htm"><b>Articles on the Third Caribbean/United Kingdom</b></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="../gyltwrite.html"><b>Letters Menu</b></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="../gyextend.htm"><b>Archival Menu</b></a></td> </tr> </table> <hr> <P> <B> The three-day Caribbean/UK forum ended yesterday with agreement on a mechanism to feed the region's critical concerns to Britain's leaders and to promote stronger representation of Caribbean issues in the international fora. <br><br> "I was very happy to see that we have agreed to have, at the highest level, to create a window of communication that would allow the UK, which has traditionally been a very close friend and partner, to help us express our concerns to the wider bodies. Their advocacy to those forums would be valuable to the region," Guyana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rudy Insanally, stated at a press conference at the conclusion of the forum last evening. <br><br> Insanally noted that individual countries would obviously have their own interests but pointed out that the world was now an interdependent one and discussions were held on an approach to delimit areas where cooperation is possible. <br><br> Baroness Valerie Amos, UK's minister of state responsible for UK-Caribbean relations, who shared the press conference with Insanally and CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington said the perception has been that the interests of the Caribbean were not important to the UK but stressed that this was not so. <br><br> She stated: "It was agreed that prior to international meetings, some of where the Caribbean is not represented but where the UK is deemed to have some influence, we would seek to put in place a mechanism where the UK government will be made aware and alerted to issues of concern to the region which we would bring to the attention of the international fora." <br><br> She said there would be quarterly meetings between the Caribbean High Commissioners and other representatives and the Commonwealth Foreign Office where a standing item on the agenda would look at upcoming meetings where the Caribbean issues would be raised. <br><br> "It is important that the UK, within the context of its membership to the European Union, is made aware of the Caribbean concerns," she said. <br><br> Guyana-born Baroness Amos pointed that it was recognised there would not always be agreement between the UK and the Caribbean on all the issues but emphasised the importance of the transmission mechanism which would be used to determine whether or not support on a particular issue would be forthcoming. <br><br> "The most important thing to me is that we have a channel of communication and dialogue which is a regular one. There has been a perception for a very long time that somehow Caribbean interests were no longer of importance to the UK. That is not the case," she stated. <br><br> On the outcome of the forum, Insanally said the Caribbean was able to put forward the concerns of the region as a whole and have them addressed. <br><br> He said the forum arrived at the conclusion that the region needed to stabilise its environment to attract investment to create the industries and jobs the Caribbean required to survive. <br><br> He noted that more work has to be done to create the Caribbean Inward Investment Office (CIIO) but was optimistic that the region would be able to develop a mechanism which would facilitate increased investment in the region. <br><br> A UK-sponsored feasibility study on a CIIO is to be done and this was welcomed by the Caribbean ministers who indicated they would recommend the convening of a meeting of ministers responsible for finance to consider a coordinated response. Sources say the commitment fell short of what some Caribbean ministers had been expecting. <br><br> Baroness Amos said the discussions in the caucus were conducted in a frank and open manner which she said reflected the maturity and spirit of cooperation in which the UK and the Caribbean worked. <br><br> On the debt situation in the region, Insanally told reporters that the Caribbean would continue to search to get some ease but pointed out that "the UK has been very sympathetic to our problems. They have agreed to consider ways and means of helping us and to make our debt burden more sustainable." <br><br> The communique coming out of the forum stated that the Caribbean expressed appreciation for the UK's contribution to the various programmes of debt relief that had significantly helped several Caribbean countries. <br><br> The UK confirmed its willingness to provide debt relief measures for all eligible CARICOM countries on the basis of the linkages to poverty reduction, good governance and prudent economic management. <br><br> The agenda of the forum was determined by the priorities set by the CARICOM heads of government and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at their meetings in Kingston, Jamaica, in July 2001, and Coolum, Australia in March, 2002. <br><br> Discussions covered a wide range of issues including international developments; regional security; trade and sustainable development; finance and investment; HIV/AIDS; administration of justice; and education and culture. <br><br> The communique said the forum emphasised the priority their governments accorded to improving the security of the Caribbean by combating drugs and arms trafficking, crime and money laundering. <br><br> They committed themselves to work closely together and with others to achieve their aims. <br><br> The Caribbean requested further support from the UK for projects on a Regional Demand Reduction Strategy for drugs and the recommendations of a Task Force on Crime and Security, to isolate the fundamental causes of increasing levels of crime. <br><br> The UK agreed to consider areas of collaboration, the communique said. <br><br> The UK also offered to fund a second phase of support for law enforcement, focusing on capacity-building in policing, prisons and customs services. <br><br> The communique said the UK confirmed, too, that it would continue to support Caribbean public sector reform initiatives including those strengthening the justice sector and the police. <br><br> The Caribbean ministers briefed the UK side about the regional efforts to remedy the systemic problems in the region's justice systems and to improve the delivery of justice and the general proficiency of the legal systems. <br><br> The forum noted that the UK side of the UK-Caribbean Jurists Group was operational but the Caribbean ministers recognised the need for a Caribbean counterpart to make the group fully effective and urged Caribbean bar associations to address this matter urgently. <br><br> The UK was advised on the progress towards the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice. <br><br> The forum discussed the problems arising from the deportation of Caribbean nationals from the UK, including the crime dimension and the potential threat to international security, the negative effects on economic and social development in the receiving states, and the humanitarian aspects. <br><br> The ministers agreed that the issues should be further discussed and it was agreed that Jamaica would provide the Caribbean lead in furthering the discussions. <br><br> The discussions should cover the areas of procedures for removal, receipt of deportees, and problems of resettlement and rehabilitation in the receiving state, the communique said. <br><br> The forum was chaired by Insanally who is also the current chairman of the CARICOM Council for Foreign and Community Relations and from the UK side, Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Baroness Amos. <br><br> Straw left for the UK on the second day to tend to matters pertaining to the crisis in the Middle East. <br><br> The forum was held at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel. <br><br> It was not without its side attractions with Guyana's main opposition party, the People's National Congress REFORM, staging a demonstration on the opening day to protest against perceived bad governance. </b> </FONT> <script language="JavaScript">  </script> <script language="JavaScript">  </script> <SCRIPT src="lospfoot.js"></SCRIPT><P> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </blockquote> </BODY> </HTML>