CARICOM leaders agree on strategy for financial crisis…
Today marked the final day of the twentieth Inter-sessional Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. To clear their packed agenda, the remaining leaders expect to be in session until sometime tonight. This afternoon, however, CARICOM Chair, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Trinidad and Tobago P.M., Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas, and CARICOM Secretary General, Edwin Carrington took time out to hold a press briefing. One of the biggest issues on the table at the two-event meeting was the global and economic crisis. Already the heads have committed to streamlining financial regulations for the region in an attempt to mitigate future problems. Today Prime Ministers Barrow and Manning told us what other economic decisions were arrived at with regards to the crisis, the economic partnership agreement and Caribbean regional negotiating machinery.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“On the particular need for greater access to funds from international financial institutions on the part of Caribbean economies I think a demarche will be made at the next annual meeting of the I.D.B. and that the meeting of heads that follows this one and which is to take place in July in Guyana, invitations will be extended to heads of some of the international institutions so that we might be able to press home our view that there is this urgent need for additional funds to be freed up to enable the to region to cope with this global financial crisis.”
Patrick Manning, Prime Minister, Trinidad and Tobago
“The extent of the problem is not fully understood. I was very gratified by the discussions that took place here and it demonstrated to me that the Caribbean is coming of age. Even though we have been brought in kicking and screaming and out of necessity, the fact of the matter is that we are mature enough to now understand the situation that is before us and to treat that situation with the maturity that such situations deserve.”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“External trade negotiations, we approved the implementation plan, which had been submitted to us by the CARICOM secretariat for the E.P.A. and the point needs to be made that via the role of the secretariat, assistance is available to all CARICOM and CARIFORUM states, and the Dominican Republic with respect to the implementation of the E.P.A. A specialized unit is being set up to provide that kind of focused assistance.”
Patrick Manning
“We sought here in Belize to treat with a number of issues that had been elusive for some time and in respect of which solutions were vital. Take for example the status of the negotiation machinery for trade negotiations in the Caribbean. That has been a contentious matter as you know and we finally came to a conclusion on it exactly what the relationship is between the C.R.N.M. and the established organs of the institutions will be and the C.R.N.M. will now report to CARICOM Secretariat and to the council of ministers and heads of government. There is a clear authority structure that has now been set up which we believe will lead to a greater level of confidence in the negotiating mechanism which we have put in place and the better results that we all are anticipating, which we think that is what is going to result.”
