THE just-concluded Canada-CARICIOM Trade Development Forum held just outside of Toronto underscored the need for Caribbean exporters, business organisations and the region’s governments to adopt a much more serious approach if they are to reap the benefits of a new trade and development accord currently being negotiated between the two sides.
The absence of key producers from the region was disappointing. Barbados High Commissioner to Canada, Evelyn Greaves, for example, expressed concern that Barbadian manufacturers did not participate in the forum and that there was no representation from the Barbados Manufacturers Association(BMA).The lack of communication among private sector organizations and their failure to provide input when requested by regional umbrella organisations is also worrying.

The Canadian and CARICOM Governments will, through a new Canada-CARICOM agreement, set the policy framework and conditions that will provide opportunities to significantly enhance two-way trade and investment opportunities. It is the Caribbean producers and service providers who will do business and they should therefore have a vested interest in what the region’s negotiators are putting on the table with their Canadians counterparts.
The Forum did come up with detailed and useful recommendations for CARICOM’s Chief Negotiator, Ambassador Gail Mathurin, who is Director General of the Office for Trade Negotiations (OTN) and her team in five sector areas – Trade in Goods, Professional Services, Financial Services, Tourism Promotion and Product Development and Film Production.
The trade negotiations are expected to be concluded by the end of 2012 and hopefully CARICOM governments, after stalling on the commencement of the talks, will be encouraged by the recent forum and be energised to provide the necessary mandates to keep the negotiations on track so a new accord can be enforced by 2013, bearing in mind that it takes another 12 months after the agreement is signed for the ratification process.
CARIBCAN, under which the region was granted duty-free access for most goods, but did not take advantage of, will expire at the end of this year and a two-year WTO waiver has been sought to allow for the current negotiations.

DUTY-FREE ACCESS

It is also worrying to note that some private sector organisations, including those in Guyana, have not had an input into their government’s official positions on the negotiations. As with all of Canada’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), this new accord will provide for two-way duty-free access for trade in goods and services. This means that Canadian goods will be coming into the CARICOM market with duty-free access; and as with CARICOM’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, requests will be made for sensitive Caribbean industries that require some protection to be phased in.
The question of which industries is, of course, something which the private sector needs to identify and therefore the region’s business community ought to ensure it has a say on this sooner rather than later, and not after the ink is dry on the a new Canada-CARICOM accord.
One protracted issue on the CARICOM side is the CARICOM Investment Code. I recall making an input on this during my tenure as Head of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO INVEST) in the late 1990’s, and it still has not come to fruition. The draft code has been stuck in the legal department of the CARICOM Secretariat for a while, and it is time that this is taken off the back burner. Canadian investors eying the Caribbean for new business are looking for uniform and consistent investment policies in the region.
The delivery and quality of services at investment agencies in the region is another issue that needs to be addressed with some urgency. The Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agency (CAIPA), currently under the aegis of Caribbean Export in Barbados, is spearheading valuable training and other initiatives intended to benefit the region’s investment agencies.

UNDERSTAFFED AGENCIES

Countries like Guyana that do not participate in these activities should take advantage of opportunities to upgrade their services, which is vital if we are to be competitive when it comes to attracting investment. As well, Caribbean governments have to understand that understaffed investment agencies and overseas missions, with limited marketing budgets, will not be equipped to sell the region to Canadians as an attractive investment location. Some of the overseas missions don’t even have promotional material.
At the recent Trade Development Forum, one interesting proposal in the area of production integration was thrown out by the Guyana Private Sector Commission representative who asked why Guyana, with vast amounts of available land and skilled workers, cannot produce the over $1M in pork products that Barbados currently imports from Canada. The thinking here is that Canadian and Caribbean companies need to engage in joint ventures and licensing arrangements to facilitate this kind of joint production that would be cost effective for the Canadians and bring much needed jobs to Guyana. Franchising operations by Canadians in the Caribbean is another area that should be explored, once the new Canada-CARICOM trade accord is effective.
Back in the mid 1980’s, during a CARICOM Heads of Government Summit, then Barbados Prime Minister Errol Barrow talked about the need for joint regional production and at that time there was a lot of interest in Guyana and Barbados collaborating on housing projects in Barbados, using Guyana timber. Needless to say, there was no follow through.
Production integration in the region will only become a reality if the region’s manufacturers are serious about working with each other.

LACK OF TRUST

At the recent forum, it was noted that even within individual CARICOM member states there is a lack of trust among private sector entities. These agencies have to find ways to work more closely together and manufacturers should be at the forefront of any discussions that relate to trade in goods, not Chambers of Commerce or umbrella organisations.
The recent withdrawal of Barbados Manufacturers Association from the Trinidad and Tobago based Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) is also cause for concern.

Granted, CAIC is not as vibrant as in the days when it was headed by Guyana’s Pat Thompson. But, whatever the perceived deficiencies of CAIC, the issue must be addressed and hopefully, efforts will be made to have the BMA rejoin since CAIC is the regional entity that officially collaborates with CARICOM on behalf of the region’s business community and works closely with Caribbean Export and the OTN. The three agencies organised the Trade Development Forum in association with the Canadian Government.
Despite the many challenges that need to be addressed, the recent Canada-CARICOM Forum made some positive headway. The Caribbean private sector representatives that participated recognised the tremendous opportunities that will open up to grow Caribbean-Canada business once the new trade agreement is signed, and the steps necessary to equip themselves to take advantage of this new deal that has the potential to contribute significantly to the region’s economic development.

(The writer is a business consultant and specialist in Caribbean Affairs)