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…backlog issues must be resolved to ensure credibility
BARBADOS Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine Mc Clean, in her capacity as Chairman of 32nd meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), yesterday called on colleagues to make the meeting one with a difference by finding solutions to some issues now facing the region.
Identifying the free movement, contingent rights and government procurement, the COTED Chair observed that some of the issues up for discussion over the two days have been listed on previous COTED agendas.
To this end, Senator Mc Lean said it is critical for the meeting to prioritize and take steps to have such back-log issues concluded, adding that COTED must conduct its affairs to ensure effectiveness and credibility to itself and communities, if the goals and ideals of the CSME are to be achieved.
Noting severe droughts in Russia and Argentina and massive flooding in Pakistan and Australia, Senator Mc Lean said this is coupled with the continuing rise in demand for food in fast developing countries like India and China.
Also, the difficult global scenario is further heightened by the current unrest in the Middle East and Africa, and the rising cost of oil.
The current unrest in the oil-producing Middle East and North Africa, following so closely on the heels of other global upheavals, including the financial and economic crisis, have been blamed for the current spell of surging fuel and food prices which have resulted in deleterious effects on regional economies, the majority of which are net importers of both oil and food.
And, while COTED will provide measures for short-tem relief, the main challenge, she observed, is to put in place medium to long term solutions, in face of the prediction that food prices will continue to rise in the future.
Noting that some of the solutions are embodied in the draft Regional Food and Security Policy, the Barbados Senator reminded that while this current crisis highlights the rising prices of food, its effects have far reaching effect on all areas of human existence.
She cautioned that responses to combat these effects which will not only be limited to the agricultural sector, but to other issues, either directly or indirectly, will contribute to the region’s ability to weather the storm.
On this note, Senator Mc Lean touched on the high cost of transportation in the region, which she deemed a critical area for attention.
According to her, the high cost of transportation within the region continues to plague the community and has implications not only for goods entering the region, but also for the cost of production within each of the countries in the region.
To this end, she said COTED must continue to explore all avenues for the provision of affordable transportation services within the region, while suggesting that keen attention be paid to the report of the task force on the feasibility study on the establishment of a fast ferry service in the southern Caribbean, in the context of improving the transport linkages within the region.
One way of measuring the significance of decisions, the COTED Chair said, is to consider the impact on people’s lives, and the decisions of the previous meeting.
Remarks by Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, and Secretary-General (ag) of CARICOM, Lolita Applewhaite, also set the tone for the start of the two-day discussions.
In principle, the COTED, Community engagement is to improve the living conditions of people and the advancement of CARICOM; and Minister Rodrigues –Birkett said the discussions, in particular in the areas of consumers and contingent rights, are in the right direction.
However, she is of the view that the work of the Council should be accelerated and show greater purpose, adding that the agenda contains a number of important issues, some of which she too noted has been around for sometime.
Noting the need to operate with some amount of urgency in dealing with some issues, she nevertheless cautioned that cognizance must be taken of the current competitive global environment.
The Acting CARICOM Secretary- General, who in her remarks listed internal and external trade, free movement, contingent rights, consumer protection, increase in fuel prices, transportation and private sector organization as among the issues to be discussed during the meeting, said it is clear that recommendations on those items affect not only states and institutions, but also individual citizens of the region.
Also, the discussions are being held when the relevance of the integration movement is being increasingly questioned as such, the focus for the year so far, has been on introspection and on the priorities of the integration movement in all of the councils of CARICOM.
A meeting of the Heads of CARICOM here, this weekend, the Acting Secretary-General added, will see them discussing a way forward for CARICOM, and a continuation of discussions which were initialled at an Intersessional held in February last in Grenada.
She reminded of an agreement to quicken the pace of the integration movement, as further delay will have implications for the CSME which is a platform for development.
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Reminding that the completion of the CSME platform is as much a collective task of COTED, as it is for it members individually, she implored that whatever decisions are taken at the meeting devolves on each individual member state to implement and complete that platform.
“There are avenues for assistance in that regard. With respect to financial assistance, for example, the secretariat, which is not empowered to borrow money, has been focusing on mobilising grant funds to provide technical assistance, such as studies and workshops to guide the process.
In respect of other financial arrangements, both the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), as its charter allows, and member states themselves, through bilateral arrangements, can access funds to assist in implementation measures within the countries, such as infrastructure development and acquisition of human resources, she said.
Earlier, the meeting remembered the participation of the late former Minister of Trade and Industry of Trinidad at previous COTED meeting by observing a minute of silence.
The late Valley, who served under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government, succumbed on May 6 to cancer which he had been battling for several years.
The late Ken Valley’s contribution helped to determine the regional trade agenda and his drive and verve assisted in propelling that agenda, the acting Secretary-General added.
