PRIME Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves’ observation that CARICOM leaders have begun to lose faith in Single Market and Economy (CSME) has come as no surprise to many.

Though this initiative of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy is seen as an important element of the region’s integration process, coming on stream in 1972 after the establishment of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), which harnesses the region’s cultural resources, some member countries’ approach to it has been far from inspiring.
At a regional forum held here on Friday, Gonsalves was quoted as saying that CARICOM members have to become more practical in their approach to the concepts of CSME, and, that while on paper the plans may seem ideal, they are far from realistic, and regional leaders have begun to lose faith in the realisation of the CSME. But this is not the time to lose faith. With international trade becoming more complex as a result of the United States America’s first policy, Caribbean leaders would be better advised to ensure the CSME works.

The CSME is an integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, back in July 1990 in Grand Anse, Grenada.

The main objective of the CSME is to establish a regional economy to produce goods and services for the marketplace, internal and external. It is important to note that the CSME (established in 1990) has its genesis in the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) of 1965-1972, which in itself was established to facilitate trade among countries in the Caribbean. The founding leaders (Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Vere Bird Snr of Antigua, and Errol Barrow of Barbados) ought to be commended for such a vision, even more so that within this period the countries were still colonies.

While built on two major pillars—trade and economy—the CSME has seen constant progress being made by putting regimes and protocols in place, to realise a single marketplace in the absence of preparing the groundwork for a single economy.
CARICOM (the Caribbean Community) comprises small countries, with the majority depending on tourism as the major economic activity; while a few, such as Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Suriname and Belize, depend largely on their natural resources as their respective economic base.

A single economy requires sharing and partnering in the development of each sector. For this sharing and partnering to be successful, there needs to be in place a comprehensive regional plan to harness the potential that the region offers in every sector of development.
Early in the integration process, ideas had emerged—such as using the energy resources of Trinidad and Tobago and smelting the bauxite from Jamaica and Guyana to convert same into aluminium—but did not evolve beyond being ideas; depriving, for instance, the region of the benefit of producing value-added to bauxite, one of the region’s primary natural resources.

Guyana and Suriname produce gold. In addition to their local miners (pork-knockers) exploiting this resource, multinational companies ply the sector. Beyond paying small royalties to the state and creating some employment and economic activities, much is left to be desired to convert the mineral to a level where the countries and region can benefit from value-added products. In fact, there is the absence of a jewellery industry in the region, while most of the gold produced is being exported raw.

As the world’s marketplace impacts negatively on the price of sugar, one of the region’s oldest industries, it has suffered at the hands of developed countries, and multinationals have been dictating what ought to happen. In the presence of foreign directives, the region, as a single unit, has not responded with a coherent plan that would address the industry in a holistic manner.

Even in the presence of the CSME, which speaks to a single economy, regional leaders have instead opted to address sugar at the individual country level rather than as a collective. Arguably, more could be derived through a single plan involving collective action, which could have led to exploration of, among other things, a major confectionery industry indigenous to Caribbean foods geared for regional and local consumption.
Each Head of Government has responsibility for a specific area in CARICOM. Guyana has responsibility for agriculture, and, for some time now, has been touted as the potential breadbasket of the region.

Apart from developing a proposal (dubbed the Jagdeo Initiative) which came with technical support and initiative from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)-a regional organisation to which this country is unfortunately indebted, having not paid dues for several years under the PPP- concrete structures are still to be put in place to exploit agriculture in Guyana, as a plank towards establishing a regional economy.
With the best of intents, CARICOM was established to aid the development of the region’s peoples through exploitation of the region’s resources. The founding fathers of CARICOM: Burnham, Barrow, Williams and Manley, have provided the region with a vision, conceptualised a plan, laid the foundation through institutions, and floated ideas as to how the region’s resources can be exploited in various forms.

With the departure of the founding fathers, given results seen and perceptions – real or contrived–of the region’s peoples, it would not be an unfair assumption that some who have followed are yet to grapple with the importance of operating as a collective in the world-given our small-state status-and develop an economic programme indigenous to the Caribbean to ensure realisation of the CSME.