BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A group of 24 of the Federation’s students and college graduates recently received the benefit of an immersion exercise on the transition to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) arrangement.
The project, dubbed ‘Students engaging the CSME through field participation’, spanned from September 27 to October 3 and gave the local participants an all-expenses paid trip to St. Lucia. About 225 individuals from around the Caribbean participated in the exchange, and the project was financed under the 9th European Development Fund (EDF).
Participants were divided into four groups: free movement of skills, free movement of services, right of establishment/movement of capital and free movement of goods. Based on their groupings, they visited business places, manufacturers, service providers and government agencies responsible for issuing skills certificates to gain first-hand knowledge of the CSME.
SKNVibes contacted the Senior Trade Policy Officer in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Commerce, Samuel Berridge, who gave a brief overview of the project.
“The students were able to engage the various operating arms of the CMSE and were given the chance to discuss the opportunities and the challenges that companies face in St. Lucia.
“All these things are important if we are to understand the CSME. It was a really good exercise in that regard, so we can say that component of the project was a success,” Berridge noted.
During the week, students from the CFB College, the Charlestown Sixth Form and the UWI Open Campus (SKN) were subjected to a rigorous schedule that allowed them to make contact with many key individuals and network with other regional participants.
Recognizing the importance of public awareness regarding the CSME, Berridge stated that there needs to be a more creative approach in getting the message out to the region. He added that social networking tools and similar immersion programmes are necessary for stakeholders to fully understand the operations and implications of the CSME.
“The students are very much aware that they are expected to assist the government with its public awareness campaign; they understand their role as youth ambassadors for the CSME. They have received the benefit of an immersion exercise and we expect that they will speak to their peers about the CSME,” he continued.
The Federation is expecting some 25 students from Barbados in early November as the CSME programme continues.
Going forward, the local participants have plans to conduct a national workshop for one day in early November in which a country report will be produced. The report, according to Berridge, will be a summary of the findings from the visit, and students will give their impressions on the different aspects of the CSME.
The report will then be submitted to CARICOM Secretariat to be tabled formally at the Heads of Government meeting.
