WASHINGTON (AFP) US President George W. Bush and his Caribbean counterparts said after talks Wednesday that they intend to negotiate an information technology agreement and firm up trading arrangements.
Bush and 15 leaders of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) also agreed to work more closely on immigration security issues, including expansion to the Caribbean region of a pilot reintegration program for deportees in Haiti. "We are determined to strengthen our existing trade arrangements," said a joint statement issed by the White House.
"We further commit to the harmonization of customs procedures consistent with global standards and the advancement of technical trade cooperation." ~~Adz:Right~~
On prospective duty free access for Caribbean products, the statement noted that Bush would work with the US Congress to "extend and update" the Caribbean Basin Trade Promotion Act and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
The leaders also declared their "intention to negotiate an agreement on cooperation in science and technology, including information communication technologies," the statement said.
The meeting takes place after CARICOM formed a single market in 2006, and amid efforts to create a framework for a so-called 'single economy' regional economy by 2008.
The United States is the Caribbeans closest developed country neighbor, its major trading partner, and the home of the largest number of migrants from the region.
With some of the poorest nations in its own backyard, the United States wants to help Caribbean nations become competitive while strengthening and coordinating their business regulations to attract investments, officials said.
Two-way trade between the United States and CARICOM members was 19 billion dollars last year, with US imports totaling 10.4 billion dollars -- more than those from Spain, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said.
Between 2004 and 2006, he said, US imports from CARICOM nations increased by more than 26 percent, while exports increased by more than 32 percent.
The joint statement of the leaders also said that the Caribbean nations should "focus on the international financial services sector to facilitate a competitive means of economic diversification" amid efficient regulations.
They also recognized the need to work more closely on immigration security issues "in a manner respectful of national laws and government services capacity and sensitive to the effects of human displacement."
They agreed to jointly work toward expansion of a pilot reintegration program for deportees in Haiti to include other CARICOM member states.
"We will develop new ways to facilitate, coordinate, and communicate between our immigration services," the statement said. CARICOM full members are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
