In an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) prior to his departure, the Head of State, said the meeting will comprise a very extensive period of engagements at the level of the Heads.

The wide-ranging agenda for the high-level CARICOM Meeting is said to include the issue of unemployment in the Region, especially in the Other Eastern Caribbean States (OECS countries).

“Many of the countries in the Caribbean Region have high unemployment rates, even as high as 45 per cent. Others are faced with reduced income. Some cannot afford to pay for their expenditures. Hopefully we would be able to draft positions to address these issues at this meeting,” he said.

President Jagdeo, who is the outgoing Chairman of CARICOM, said the solution to these problems is vital to the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), as it is one of the ways in which the various countries can integrate their economies for maximum benefit.

Featuring high on the agenda also will be the Region’s role in guiding trade negotiations in the three major negotiating theatres- the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and even the European Union (EU).

Much of the Heads’ time will be spent on crime and security, issues that are currently plaguing the CARICOM Region. The meeting will facilitate discussion on the recommendations of the Regional Task Force on Crime, set up more than two years ago.

Commenting on his expectations of the meeting, President Jagdeo said that he is hopeful that they would be able to move ahead the agenda one step at a time, by the end of which all the Heads present will have “a greater understanding of the crime situation in the Region and some recommendation, not just as individuals Governments but also collectively as a Region will be given.”

One of the issues Guyana will be raising at the 14th Inter-sessional meeting is the desertion of the agricultural sector by Member States. President Jagdeo is the CARICOM Head with lead responsibility for agriculture.

He will be calling for a renewed commitment to that sector.

“I am very worried that as we seek to diversify, many of the countries neglect their agricultural sector,” he said, adding that the situation in Guyana is on the contrary, as Government has poured huge sums of money into the local agricultural arena.

The President pointed out that agriculture is of much importance to the sustainability of the economy, especially at the subsistence level, as it is not as easily affected as the Services Sector by international trends.

“I will be calling for greater emphasis on food security,” he said

The 14th Inter-sessional Meeting was officially declared open yesterday evening with a ceremony. On the first day of the meeting, President Jagdeo is expected to report on his stewardship as Chairman of CARICOM.

He was appointed Chairman on July 3, 2002 at the opening of the 23rd Heads of Government Meeting in Georgetown.

Chairing the Committee he attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, a special meeting in St. Lucia in August where the Heads approved relief for Dominica via a Transformation and Stabilisation Fund for the Region, the CARICOM Bureau meeting in Barbados to deal with implementation of various policies agreed upon by the Heads at previous meetings, an emergency meeting called in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to address the state of Regional airline. He also strongly condemned the treatment meted out to Guyanese at Caribbean airports, and made a Regional visit to Cuba and Jamaica.

Later, reflecting on his tenure the Head of State described the six months as “successful and rewarding, but challenging.” He said the Chairmanship has brought with it several obligations, which he discharged to the best of his ability, but the six-month tenure as Chairman was insufficient to see the end results of these efforts.

“It has been a tough six months. I had to deal with the situation at home-crime and politics as well as CARICOM,” he said.

According to the President, while the conclusion of the many objectives he outlined in his address to the Heads at the opening of the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in July were not seen during his tenure, he has managed to lay them on the table.

The Heads have since agreed that matters will be discussed at Inter-sessional meetings.

“I am very pleased that the issues I proposed be placed on CARICOM’s agenda will not be just set aside, but that there will be room for consideration and this will be done in Trinidad,” he said.

Among the objectives were a review of all Regional institutions in accordance with the Treaty of Chaguaramas, positioning the Caribbean strategically to maximise resources; extending the reach of CARICOM, using strategically the entry point of the Caribbean and its links with developed countries; and protecting the Region’s Fisheries Regime and rules that govern it.

Among the highlights of his Chairmanship the President said is the establishment of the Regional Transformation and Stabilisation Fund and a trust fund to finance it. Dominica has already started benefiting from that Fund, which is being financed from the Central Banks of each member state. The Fund is expected to be in excess of US$100M and will be operated as a multilateral financing capacity via the Caribbean Development Bank.

During his tenure, President Jagdeo also attended several meetings of the Heads to address various issues, including the status of the Regions’ economy, the formulation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and the raising of the US $100M fund and the survival of the Regional airline-LIAT.

“Dominica will now officially assume the Chairmanship for the next six months.

Commenting on the effectiveness of CARICOM and its relevance to the day-to-day operations of countries, President Jagdeo said some successes have been recorded in the policy areas, but the Region has a far way to go in braking down barriers that demonstrate much insularity among CARICOM people.

“Unless we break down the barriers people will never stop questioning the relevance of CARICOM,” he said.

The Head of State recommended that one way of doing this is sharing information with other member states in various areas including culture, way of live, progress made in countries and the economic and social standards of living.

The Inter-sessional meeting is being preceded by several others among the Heads. On Monday the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the establishment of the CSME met under the chairmanship of Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

According to the President he did not attended this meeting because of the situation in Guyana.

Yesterday the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations met to address “serious issues affecting the Region at this point in time, issues relating to trade and negotiations within the WTO, the FTAA and the post Cottonu negotiations.

The Heads attending the Meeting were invited to a special meeting by Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning to discuss the issue of governance in the Region and the various concepts, he said.

“I am sure that we will be discussing ways and means of bringing the Region closer together and the looming challenge of this century,” the Head noted.

While in Trinidad, President Jagdeo will be using the opportunity to hopefully conclude engagements on several outstanding bilateral agreements with CARICOM counterparts.

He pointed out that Guyana has a rice issue with Jamaica, and a sugar issue with Barbados, via which Guyana is trying to have a greater share in those markets.

Guyana is also working towards a fisheries agreement with Barbados and is hoping to extend that to a multilateral regime. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that Guyana and Barbados signed in July last year to facilitate closer bilateral ties will also be discussed further.

The President will also follow-up on the Guyana/Trinidad and Tobago agreement on working to remove the impediments to trade and investment at a bilateral level.

Carrington says CARICOM single market needs urgent action
STEPS toward the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) require urgent action by member states, Secretary General Edwin Carrington says.

At a press conference in Trinidad this week, Carrington emphasised that the implementation of the CSME was critical as it would set the Caribbean on a sound foundation for other trade and economic arrangements to come, including the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

A CARICOM Secretariat release said Carrington made the point while highlighting critical issues on the agenda for discussion by CARICOM Heads of Government at their 14th Inter-Sessional Meeting in Trinidad tomorrow and Saturday.

A related CSME issue, the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice, is also on the agenda and it is expected that a report will come from the Caribbean Development Bank which was mandated by the leaders to secure funding on the international capital market for a Trust Fund. The Heads of Government have agreed to set up the Fund to ensure the financial sustainability of the Court.

The release said the leaders will also focus on crime and security in the region as a substantial agenda item.

They will also receive reports from several meetings prior to the Inter-Sessional. These meetings are the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on CSME; Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations; Seventh Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) and a joint meeting of the Ministers of Tourism and Finance.

The release said Carrington reported that the leaders were likely to issue a statement on the situation in Iraq and discuss the situation in Venezuela.

“All of these meetings are taking place in a year when the Caribbean Community is celebrating 30 years of its establishment, making it the oldest integration movement in the developing world,” the release noted.

The celebrations will be launched with a cultural extravaganza today at the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies. This was preceded by the Inaugural Lecture in the Distinguished Lecture Series yesterday at the Trinidad and Tobago Hilton Hotel.