BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, July 1st 2011 (CUOPM) – St, Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister and Incoming Chairman of the 15-member CARICOM grouping, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas have told Caribbean leaders of the need to further consolidate the gains of the regional integration movement as the region grapples with a changing global environment.
Prime Minister Douglas, the in-coming Chairman of the 15-member CARICOM grouping, said he intends using his six-month stint to build upon “the outstanding work of all of the Chairs that have come before” promising that “together, we will assess the tumult that has befallen much of the world and together we shall craft strategic responses that take full account of the challenges we face and the resources at our disposal.”
He said that he was assuming the Chairmanship of CARICOM “at a time of great global strain and uncertainty” and financial problems in Europe, the United States and elsewhere will have implications for the region.
Dr. Douglas told his fellow leaders assembled at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium for their 32nd annual meeting of Heads of Government Conference that over the next six months “our deliberations as a region will be dominated both by issue areas previously agreed to by us ... as well as by priority issues that none of us, at this time, has the ability to foresee.
“The sizes of our respective nations, combined with our special history, have resulted in our nations not having the requisite sources of capital, internally, to fuel the levels of economic growth and job formation that we seek.
“We are well managed, we are stable, we are fully functioning democracies, but our ability to attract foreign investment in the short, medium, and long-term, therefore, will remain key, despite the economic instability currently being experienced in many nations that have traditionally been sources of investment capital for the region.”
Dr. Douglas, the longest serving head of government in the region, said that in addition, the region will have to cope with increasing food prices, steady population growth, and limits to food production globally.
He said ensuring Caribbean people access to safe, reliable, and nutritious food remains key and that food security is essential both at the level of the individual as well as at the level of the region because of the link between the health of a people, and their region’s productivity and competitiveness.
“Our region, fortunately, has been endowed with vast areas of fertile, arable land – land that is ideally suited to agricultural production. And due to our nations being either insular or coastal, our region also controls a vast marine asset base – with positive implications in terms of dietary contributions, health, economic activity and food security.”
But Dr. Douglas said that while the region has been able to record positive developments in a number of areas it was also necessary to note that the economic development of the region is now intricately intertwined with new and emerging information and communication technology (ICT).
“We have seen the ways in which these new capabilities have revolutionized the way in which, and the speed with which, commerce is conducted within and across national boundaries.
And the people of the Caribbean already understand that advanced ICT skills now do more than merely improve one’s employment prospects. They understand that these skills, indeed, represent a doorway to myriad and here to fore nonexistent entrepreneurial possibilities for them and their families.”
The St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister said that the region must also develop additional strategies to deal with security issues, noting that “security threats take different forms in different countries and regions.
“We know the form that it takes in this region, and the decision by CARICOM to address this regional threat with a regional response was one of the most insightful that we have ever taken on this issue.
And as incoming Chair, I am especially committed to working with you, fellow Heads, as well as our international partners, on this complex but unavoidable battle. “
Dr. Douglas said that while the region have accomplished much over the years, “there remains much to be done” pointing to the pace at which decisions are taken regarding the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)” that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region.
Dr. Douglas said that another area of concern pertains to Trinidad-based The Caribbean Court of Justice, (CCJ) “which has a distinct role to perform in the functioning of our region, and in the assertion of ourselves as a fully evolved and socio-political grouping.
“We must, as a region, ensure that this role is indeed fulfilled,” he said, also urging his fellow leaders to ensure the “greater harmonization of those procedures which are now a part of each of our individual realities, but which nonetheless, from a regional perspective, lack a certain uniformity of process, form, and impact.
“We must also restructure and modernize the CARICOM Secretariat so that it may play an even greater role in advancing a pragmatic and realistic regional agenda, and in strengthening the integration process,” he said.
But Dr. Douglas said that he was particularly pleased with the progress the region has made in the area of health making particular mention of the 2001 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS, and its subsequent Declaration which led to the establishment of the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
“Our region was the first in the entire world to produce and actionable response. Since the Nassau Declaration of 2001, with its Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) on the one hand, and the Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH) on the other, the Caribbean Community has indeed produced ten years of solid achievements in the area of health sector development.”
He said the region has also initiated the first ever Heads of Government Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases, which account for some 70 percent of deaths in the region, and costs governments nearly US$70 million annually.
He said it was as a result of the Caribbean’s efforts at the UN and elsewhere, and as a direct off-shoot of Port of Spain Declaration that there will now be a UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases in September of this year.
But Dr. Douglas said that one of the most significant outgrowths of the Nassau Declaration, however, will be the consolidation of the region’s five health-oriented institutions into one agency – the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CAPHRA).
“As a result of this important change, our region will be better positioned to respond to health emergencies. We will have access to high level laboratories. There will be enhanced training for nationals in the health-care profession. There will be heightened and expanded health-care related research and development.”
He said that the formalities pertaining to CARPHA will be officially addressed during the summit and that an executive board should be in place September this year “by which time we also expect a Resource Mobilization and Sustainability Plan to have been completed.
The Prime Minister said that there is also the hope that a two year work programme and budget will be in place for the Port of Spain based CARPHA by December 2011.
“At the time of the Nassau Declaration, we agreed that the health of the region’s peoples would be the key determinant of our accomplishments in all and any areas of endeavours.
We, as a region, committed ourselves to making meaningful and significant strides in the interests of our people, and this we have done.”
*************************
DISCLAIMER
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
