`This is probably the opportunity that Guyana must seize: to act as a bridge between South America and the Caribbean area. As the only English-speaking country in South America; as the country where the headquarters of the Caribbean Community is located, Guyana is in a unique position to play a role in this regard.' Canada's Ambassador to CARICOM, Mr. Serge Marcoux
`Shrinking space, shrinking time, [and] disappearing borders are linking people's lives more deeply, more intensely, [and] more immediately than ever. Very soon, there will only be one market; and that is the world market. The competition is not local, nor national any more. Every company has to become transnational in the way it is run.'
CANADIAN envoy, Mr. Serge Marcoux recently plugged the importance of the long-awaited CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Single Market and Economy (CSM&E) to countries not only within the 15-member trading bloc but the wider Caribbean as well, citing his government's renewed interest in the region, given today's globalised way of thinking and doing business.
He also hailed Guyana's unique position as the only English-speaking territory in all South America in the creation of that all-important nexus between South America and the Caribbean and the resumption of dialogue between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Leader of the Main Opposition, Mr. Robert Corbin.
Addressing a luncheon hosted last month by the Guyana Consulate in the province of Toronto, Canada, under the theme: 'Where Are We and Where Are We Going', Mr. Marcoux said: "The Single Market is of vital necessity to Caribbean countries, most of which do not have an internal market large enough to ensure their economic sustainability."
One of the realities of a globalised economy, he noted, is that such things as we once took for granted, such as trade in agricultural or industrial products will never ever be the same again.
"Shrinking space, shrinking time, [and] disappearing borders," he said, "are linking people's lives more deeply, more intensely, [and] more immediately than ever. Very soon, there will only be one market; and that is the world market. The competition is not local, nor national any more. Every company has to become transnational in the way it is run."
As Canada's ambassador to CARICOM, which appointment he took up a year ago, Mr. Marcoux said that part of his functions is to help the community abolish the impediments to the free flow of goods, people and ideas between member states and promote "a more vibrant and dynamic Caribbean region as a full partner in the community of the Americas."
He said that it is in this context that Guyana seems to be now facing its greatest challenge ever, torn as she might no doubt be "between her economic vocation which links her more and more to South America, and her cultural vocation as part of the Caribbean."
Noting Brazil's steady rise as the economic giant of South America and its equally steady assumption of the leadership role in the unification of the region, the Canadian envoy says it is now more important than ever that Guyana capitalise on the unique position it occupies.
"....this is probably the opportunity that Guyana must seize," he said. "To act as a bridge between South America and the Caribbean area. As the only English-speaking country in South America; as the country where the headquarters of the Caribbean Community is located, Guyana is in a unique position to play a role in this regard."
He warned, however, of globalisation's propensity for generating as much hate as it does hope. "While rapid technological transformation offers new and important opportunities for sharing and learning," he said, 'the global exchange of information and ideas is often unequally distributed and overwhelming to smaller or local cultures."
He noted too that given changing concepts of national identity and sovereignty, the question will always arise as to the ability of countries and communities to make their own choices on how they want to shape their future.
One of the ideas Canada wants to promote within and without its own borders, he said, is the notion of cultural diversity as being the answer to the twin questions of how one can best profit from globalisation without losing one's identity and enjoy learning about different civilizations without being assimilated by them.
Noting that Canada's idea of cultural diversity is the preservation and promotion of a variety of differences in human experience and achievement, he said what this means in effect is that "ethnicity must not necessarily divide people; that different languages can enrich them; that different traditions must become an occasion of learning [and] not a pretext to claim ethnic superiority. Cultural diversity teaches us that in our modern world, partnership and partnership alone [can] generate social and economic development."
He said, too, that while Canada, like Guyana has the unique privilege of being a multi-ethnic society, this may not necessarily a good thing.
"This can be a curse or a benediction," he said, adding that it is this context he sees the resumption of dialogue between the President and Mr. Corbin as being "an encouraging sign."
He said it is hope "of all Guyana's friends" that these contacts will not only become more and more frequent, but also based on mutual trust and understanding. And that neither should they become embroiled in "legalistic or constitutional niceties."
The ideal situation, Mr. Marcoux said, "is not to write a catalogue of decisions which have failed or succeeded, but to create a spirit of congeniality totally committed to Guyana's development and the eradication of poverty."