Are the Advantages of CSME Being Felt in Belize?

Dean Barrow

Speaking at a conference in Guyana on June eighth, the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, said that the Caribbean Community needs to undertake direct consultations to ensure the survival of CARICOM Single Market and Economy, known as the C.S.M.E. Golding went on to say that most; if not all of CARICOM, have deep misgivings of some requirements of the C.S.M.E. which was stuck on a hill and can’t stay there. Golding, however, went on to say the C.S.M.E. had been met with some progress as it relates to its implementation for  the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the fifteen member states of CARICOM. But has the C.S.M.E. been felt in Belize? Prime Minister Dean Barrow says that integration movements take time but he believes that it has done reasonably well.

Dean Barrow, Prime Minister

“I don’t know that the performance has been particularly slow. Listen, all this integration movements’ tale a long time to really put everything together. Look at the case of Europe. It is not a reason to become complacent but comparatively speaking I think CARICOM has done reasonably well. So that when criticisms are made that are valid, we take them on board and we try to do better but I don’t think that we need to come down on ourselves too hard. Because I repeat comparatively speaking, we have done well enough.”