(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) -- The success of the Strategic Plan of the Caribbean Community hinges on agreement on the priority activities, the steps to implement them, and a multi-sectoral involvement to which the private sector is essential.
This is the firm belief of Caribbean Community Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque who addressed the opening of the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Dickenson Bay, Antigua and Barbuda, 1 July 2014.
An agreement on the priorities of the Plan will be “a sign that we are truly on the way to achieving that mature regionalism which is required to guide the future of our Community.” “We must now harness and channel our resources optimally, to get the results that will benefit the people of the Community,” Secretary-General LaRocque told the opening ceremony.
“This is a plan for the Community and all of the Community must be involved. To succeed would entail a level of co-operation and co-ordination involving our Member States, all the Institutions of the Community and the Secretariat operating, within a responsive governance structure with clear lines of accountability under the direction of our Heads of Government,” Secretary-General LaRocque said.
Another important facet, he added, was a governance structure that was premised on forging partnerships with all stakeholders, including the private sector, labour, civil society and youth, to drive the course of integration along an agreed path. Emphasizing the importance of the business community’s involvement, he said, a private sector that was vibrant and committed to providing a platform for economic growth was critical.
“This partnership must be forged with an understanding of the reality of the economic and social challenges that we all face. As partners, they have a prominent role to play in the successful implementation of our Strategic Plan. Ownership of the Plan by all stakeholders will be the basis upon which it will succeed,” Ambassador LaRocque stated.
Describing the backdrop against which the Plan was commissioned, he said that it was in pursuit of a united regional resolution to the challenges being grappled by the Community and geared towards refocusing, redirecting, reorganizing and repositioning CARICOM.
The Strategic Plan, which was prepared after extensive consultation through the Community, is one of the prime considerations of the Conference and is expected to set the course for the immediate future and beyond, Ambassador LaRocque said. He explained that it involves building resilience in the economic, social, environmental and technological areas, strengthening governance and the spirit of Community, as well as the other essential elements of co-ordinating foreign and external economic relations, research, development and innovation.
As the Heads contemplate the way forward for CARICOM, Ambassador LaRocque said a critical factor in delivering the potential benefits of the Strategic Plan was how the Community organised itself to make the delivery of those benefits possible in an effective and efficient manner.
Coupled with the preparation of the Strategic Plan to reengineer the integration movement, the Secretary-General noted that the Commission on the Economy, which was established September, last, was another critical component in the pursuit of a draft action plan for the sustainable growth of the Community.
The Commission, he said, has seen the amalgamation of “some of our best minds” in the areas of economy, transportation, information and communication technology and human resource development.
The Secretary-General also reported on the successes that have been derived from work ongoing in those respective areas which is expected to see increased collaboration and co-ordination of services in transportation; a ubiquitous ICT landscape; and an education system responsive to economic competitiveness.
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