The Caribbean Conference

This Conference, which was attended by the Prime Minister, the Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham and the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Brent Symonette who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was a very special conference for the region as its theme was Caribbean Integration. The integration process is being pushed by fifteen countries of the region, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of which fourteen are former colonies of Britain and the Republic of Haiti. The main vehicle to integrate the region is the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The Bahamas has never been a full member of CARICOM as it never participated in the Trade aspect of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. For decades, CARICOM has been working to deepen the Bahamian involvement in the activities of the Community; however, The Bahamas has resisted these attempts. The most recent attempt was to get the Bahamas to become a full participant in CSME.

The Bahamian people have generally been opposed to the integration process and have made it know to the political directorate its opposition to deepening The Bahamas’ involvement in CARICOM, particularly participating in the CSME. This Conference in Washington, D.C. was a pivotal one for CARICOM as it had four aspects to it: the political meetings which were attended by the P.M. and Deputy P.M., the Diaspora Forum, the Private Sector Forum and the Experts Forum.

The objective of the Fora was to bring a non-governmental dimension to the Conference.It is this aspect which we, in The Bahamas, missed an opportunity to express our views rather than having the government or the politican speak for us. The Diaspora Forum would have afforded Bahamians living in the United States to have their say as the Caribbean diaspora is being viewed as an integral part of the integration process.

In the television special on JCN Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Owen Arthur ,gave the opening address on behalf of CARICOM Heads of Government. Mr. Arthur made some very interesting comments on the challenges facing the region which he described as being in the post-colonial period. The states of the region can no longer depend on the preferential markets of its former colonial masters as an outlet for its agricultural commodity exports. The region must look at the economic development paradigm which information technology has brought to the global economy. In order for Caribbean peoples to survive in this new market forces environment, they will have to adhere to the spirit competitiveness.

The CARICOM Secretariat provided the following summary on the recommendations which came out of the three fora (Diaspora, Private Sector and Expert).

Heads of Government interacted with the Diaspora during two sessions of the Diaspora Forum. Both Caribbean Americans and the Leaders raised several issues of importance to them and their views coincided on the need for:

l a more structured approach to engaging the Diaspora;

l transforming remittances into investment;

l encouraging and empowering a well-education youth population both in the Region and in the Diaspora;

l encouraging youth in the Diaspora to become more involved in the development of the Region;

l accessing the skills available in the Diaspora to help develop the Region;

l assistance for deportees’ re-integration into life in the Caribbean.

At a press conference on 20 June at the OAS, President Bharrat Jagdeo hailed the interaction with the Diaspora as a success and pointed out that Caribbean people living in the US can build a strong lobbying group to draw US policy makers' attention to issues affecting them and the Region.

Recommendations that evolved from the Private Sector Forum included:

l the need for the Region to change its mindset to move from traditional emphasis on comparative advantage based on natural resources to competitive advantage based on human resources;

l access to financing on appropriate terms for small and medium size enterprises;

l negotiate mature economic relationships that include recognition of people and support for building infrastructure;

l urgent action to finalise the Regional Energy Policy;

l seeking EPA-type model for any future agreement with the United States with a significant development component;

l strengthening local presence at the State level in the United States through trade and economic Consuls.

l The Experts Forum recommended:

l priority be given to education to develop the Region’s capacity to deal with the global economic scenario;

l boosting literacy and numeracy skills;

l obtaining requisite resources for capacity-building on climate change;

l increasing productive capacity, including physical, institutional, legal and human infrastructure;

l moving from a crisis management style to a strategic management style at the level of firms, nations and the Region as a whole;

l continuing the process of implementing the CSME, in particular the free movement of persons;

It is a sad commentary that Bahamian civil society did not participate in the fora. After all we are a part of this region.