Latest update February 10th, 2025 7:48 AM
The Caribbean Single Market and Economy
In today’s globalized world, regional integration offers a way forward for trade and the economic growth needed for reducing poverty and improve the well-being of the masses in the Caribbean. It is vital to the development and survival of the region’s small economies.
We have learnt over the years, through experience, multiple disappointments and numerous heartaches, not to hold our breath when the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders make decisions on the region’s future economic development at their annual summits.
The one obvious thing that CARICOM leaders have in common is their oratory skills and their ability to articulate issues, which in the end dash the collective hopes of the people. Still, we cannot help but feel attached to CARICOM.
Forty-five years after the creation of CARICOM, it is time for its 15-member states to take a good look at the progress made, the failures that have been incurred and the initiatives needed to move the union forward in the face of globalization.
The formation of CSME is crucial for regional integration, which is one of the main objectives for economic growth and development in the Caribbean. The CSME is expected to offer more and better opportunities for the CARICOM states to produce and sell goods and attract investment, increase competitiveness, create employment, and improve the standards of living of the people of the region.
The ultimate goal of the CSME is to provide the foundation for the region’s goods and services to become more competitive on the international market and boost long-term growth.
At the 28th Inter-sessional CARICOM meeting of Heads of State held in Guyana in February 2017, President Granger said that if the region were to escape total emasculation in today’s global environment, it must expedite the full implementation of CSME.
President Granger opined that the CSME must not be allowed to become a victim of equivocation and procrastination and that there must be legal and institutional measures and mechanisms to support the free movement of goods, services, people and cross-border establishment of businesses.
He has called on the leaders of CARICOM member states to re-examine how they can dismantle tariffs and other barriers to trade and agricultural products.
At the time of its launch in 2007, the CSME was seen as a sort of panacea to the various obstacles standing in the way of region integration, intra-regional trade and economic development among member states.
The Caribbean, especially Guyana, has the land, manpower and capital to guarantee food security for all its citizens. However, the fact that the region’s annual food import bill exceeds US$4.5 billion is an indictment of the region’s ability to stimulate growth in the agricultural sector.
The CSME was touted as a solution to the long-standing low growth rate and limited economic development that have undermined the efficiency of competitiveness in the region’s industries.
In global negotiations, the CSME was supposed to provide CARICOM with a stronger voice in the global community.
Today, it is fair to say that the CSME has made some progress. It has allowed several categories of persons seeking employment to move freely from one CARICOM member state to another. This has been achieved through the abolition of the work-permit system; approval of the Certificate of CARICOM Skills Qualification allows for indefinite leave for people to stay in a Member State; and the right to transfer social-security benefits from one CARICOM state to another.
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