20 years after its launch, CSME still to deliver

Oct 29, 2009 News

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Recognising the need to do more to fast track the implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a Public Symposium at the Convention Centre yesterday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues- Birkett, said that she is aware of the disenchantment by some persons who questioned the benefits and relevance of the CSME.
However, she said that it will be unwise for the region to turn back now. She attributes the disenchantment displayed by some to the fact that some of the goals that were set aside in the Grand Anse Declaration in Grenada in 1989 are not translating into their day to day experiences.
She said 20 years after Grand Anse, there are difficulties that are seriously impeding the process. The Minister said that while some boast of the free movement of goods across the region, it should be noted that it is easier to export goods to Europe than it is to export within Caricom and this needs to be addressed.
She is urging Caricom countries to resolve such issues quickly if the benefits of the CSME are to be achieved quickly. She said that the question should not be if we have made progress or not, but it should be if we are doing enough, and if we should do more.
She said criticisms have been levelled against the programme, recently, after some Guyanese were removed from sister CARICOM countries for reasons that leave much to be desired.
Birkett said that although such issues continue to arise periodically Guyana has remained committed to CSME and is one of a handful of countries that have signed the declaration in 2006 that formalised its entry into the CSME.
Minister Birkett told the gathering that her Ministry will be undertaking a series of such public events so that citizens can be better informed of the CSME. She agreed that there are a number of persons within the society that have little knowledge of what CSME is all about.
She said that the success of the programme is dependent on Guyana and by extension the Caribbean region understanding the benefits, challenges and other important aspects that are critical. The Minister said what was revealing in her discourse with persons who visited her Ministry, when they encounter problems in sister Caricom territories, was how little they knew of the CSME while some did not know anything at all.
She said with the small and vulnerable economies of the region there is a greater need for the region to work closer to achieve its goals.
Mrs Rodrigues-Birkett said that the symposium comes at a time when a comprehensive audit is being done to evaluate the effectiveness of the CSME thus far.
Addressing participants yesterday, Ivor Carryl, Programme Manager, CSME Unit, CARICOM Secretariat, said that his agency is always willing to participate in any activity that will raise awareness of the CSME, as it is critical to the development of the Caribbean region.
He said by way of introduction that he needed to set the record straight. He added that it is by way of fact and indeed from a legal perspective, that the economic integration does exist.
He said there is always the question of how and when this component of the CSME exists, but he said that he is not fearful of being contradicted, that the existence of this aspect is in place. Carryl said the real issue that is of concern, which needs to be addressed is the extent to which the region’s citizens understand the CSME, its provisions, rules and more consequentially how it can be use to their benefits.
The Caricom point man on CSME said that he is aware of issues that have brought the credibility of the agreement into question but largely goods and services have been allowed to move across the region freely.
He said the liberalisation of the Caricom market is testimony to the fact that the CSME is achieving its objectives. He said while Caricom will create the correct environment for the success of the CSME, Guyana has a responsibility to identify its strengths and weaknesses and there after produce strategies to counter these.
Carryl said that the region has come some way since 1973 when it was only goods that were allowed to move freely across this area.
He noted that eight classes or groups of persons now have unfettered access to any Caribbean country that is CSME compatible.
Carryl said that the CSME recently found itself in a situation where its potency and its ability to work have been tested. This he said was caused by the global financial crisis, where there were massive job losses across the region.
He said he believes that such a situation should bring the region together so that it can achieve a common good, and allow the CSME to work.
The CSME came into being after Regional Leaders met in Grand Anse Grenada in 1989 and agreed that there is need for a single market and economy to ensure the survival of the Caribbean region in the global financial sphere.

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