(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) -- A regional seminar on capacity building, trade policy and trade promotion which began at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat on Wednesday 5 April has illustrated the robust south-south cooperation between CARICOM and Chile.
Mr Joseph Cox, Assistant Secretary-General within the Directorate of Trade and Economic Integration said the seminar covers trade policy in Chile, access to the Chilean market, regulatory policy, and intellectual property rights and the trade environment. The participants represent officials involved in external trade negotiations in CARICOM Member States.
The seminar, facilitated by the Government of the Republic of Chile, responds to a discussion and agreement reach by President of Chile, Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet, and the then Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister of Dominica, The Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit in July 2016. Further discussions about CARICOM’s interest in learning from Chile´s experiences with trade policy and promotion were held during an official visit to Chile by the President of Guyana, H. E David Granger.
Plenipotentiary Representative of Chile to CARICOM, His Excellency Claudio Rojas said that the seminar symbolized an expression of partnership between Chile and CARICOM member States.
He said the team facilitating the workshop was directly involved in external trade negotiations undertaken by Chile with other countries. Therefore, the opportunity exists for valuable exchange of views, experiences and networking.
Mr. Rojas shared how Chile overcame the challenges of the past to become a key player worldwide in the agro industries sector;
“As Chile was puzzled to deal with the limitations of the past, we started a new approach in a sustained manner with the strong commitment of the public sector in launching several instruments for the transformation of agriculture as a sector and Chile´s economy as a whole with sound macro-economic policies, a clear regulatory framework, the promotion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and on working with other countries in seeking an open and fair International Trade system,” the Chilean Ambassador stated.
As a strong supporter of South-south cooperation, the Chilean Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AGCID), has delivered on the promises established in the CARICOM-Chile Agreement to Establish a Standing Joint Commission on Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination; and the Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation, Mr Joseph Cox said.
Through those agreements Chile has been providing technical assistance and capacity development in areas including diplomatic training, and Spanish language training for primary and secondary school teachers. To date, 400 teachers from CARICOM have benefited from the training.
The Government of Chile has also offered post graduate scholarships to CARICOM nationals in international relations, international law, education, natural resource management and planning, disaster management and international negotiations. Those academic exchanges have exposed CARICOM nationals to the experiences of Chile as well as those of its trilateral partners – Spain, Japan and Canada. A Post Graduate Diploma in Seismology was recently added with the support of the Government of Japan.
Mr Cox informed that support to the Caribbean Community through the AGCID for 2015 to 2018 was US$12,000,000 for areas including social development, agriculture and food security, disaster prevention and institutional strengthening, and modernization.
Guyana’s Minister of Business, The Hon. Dominica Gaskin, in his remarks noted that CARICOM could learn from the experiences of Chile.
“Right now there's a wealth of experience around the world in the areas of trade and investment. But there are also great disparities in the quality of those experiences among different countries.
“So having the opportunity to tap into the value that resides in those countries that have successfully developed and implemented policies to stimulate and facilitate trade can help to narrow that gap,” Minister Gaskin stated.
He stressed the critical need for countries to create the environment for private sector environment to thrive within a regulatory framework of transparency and openness, as is the experience of Chile.
“We know that Chile is considered one of Latin America's economic success stories and most experts will tell you that that success is built on sound policies and a strong regulatory framework that emphasizes openness, transparency and predictability in areas of trade and investment,” the Minister said.
He emphasized the critical importance of a business environment within the Region that was attractive for private sector trade and investment, adding that, “our policies and regulations while protecting our countries from the excesses of unfettered capitalism must also ensure that certain key ingredients that encourage rather than discourage trade and investment are not ignored.”
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