One of the very positive developments that emerged out of the post colonial era, where developing countries in their quest towards industrialisation and socio-economic advancement, was the concept of South-South cooperation which has now manifested itself within several blocs among the developing world.
One of the outstanding and notable manifestations of South-South cooperation has been the remarkable assistance Cuba has been giving to fellow developing countries to build capacity in the health sector.
Margaret Blunden who is Emeritus Professor of the University of Westminster, UK, and has published widely in the fields of international relations and security studies, recently contributing to a new think-tank report on future relations with Cuba, Opting for engagement, produced by the Washington Office on Latin America notes:
“Cuba’s health programmes in Africa, dating back some forty years, and its training of African doctors in Cuba itself, have made an original contribution to international development. Cuba’s programmes have focused heavily on capacity building within the health sector, rather than large infrastructure projects. They have been located within a distinctive discourse of solidarity among developing countries, officially repudiating the self-interest and power imbalances usually implicit in donor-recipient relations; they have been largely free from political conditionality; and their core values are preventive and holistic medicine, rather than the medical conception of health commonly seen as a legacy of colonialism in Africa. Cuba made a significant contribution to the concept of south-south development cooperation well before this concept began to influence the professional field of development studies in the 1990s – when it was identified as an alternative form of globalisation and seen as a key driver of development effectiveness in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. This brief exploration of some of Cuba’s health programmes in Africa suggests that they exemplify both the strengths and limitations of south-south development cooperation, which currently accounts for between five and ten per cent of overseas development activity.”
On the economic front in South America several groupings to forge trade and economic cooperation including MERCOSUR, UNASUR, etc, and now with the Takutu Bridge linking Guyana and its giant neighbour Brazil the prospects of increased trade and economic cooperation between CARICOM and the latter are extremely good.
And in this regard, credit must be given to President Jagdeo for working persistently to ensure that the Takutu Bridge project fructified.
Incumbent Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, has hailed the bridge across the Takutu River linking Guyana and Brazil as a physical connection that will expand economic benefits to the Region.
Delivering opening remarks on the occasion of the inaugural CARICOM-Brazil Summit in Brasilia, the Prime Minister, who is also the island’s Minister of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Information Technology, said the bridge will help make available a trade route which will further the efforts of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The CSME was intended to provide the springboard to facilitate CARICOM’s integration into the hemispheric and global environment through more competitive production, thereby enhancing trade relations.
Alluding to some member States which have begun formalising their trade relationship with Brazil, Prime Minister Skerrit made reference to Guyana’s move to sign a Partial Scope Agreement and St. Kitts and Nevis’ expression of interest in becoming part of that agreement.
The Partial Scope Agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on trade and investment which was signed in 1999 by the Presidents of Guyana, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
At yesterday’s summit Prime Minister Skerrit said, “I look forward to further discussions on trade and economic co-operation between both sides during this Summit.”
Notably, Guyana has already secured positive engagements with Brazil in the agriculture sector and recently a team of Brazilian businessmen visited the country in search of trade and investment opportunities.
However, it is now quite clear that the Bridge is not simply a facility for boosting of trade between Guyana and its neighbour but is one which will benefit the entire region.
These are the sort of projects that should be embarked upon if we truly want to realise economic cooperation and integration among developing countries under the South-South cooperation concept, The Bridge is certainly an instrument of this concept.