(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) -- The Dominica Ministry of Employment, Trade, Industry and Diaspora Affairs, in partnership with the CARICOM Secretariat, is developing a CSME Communication Plan. A recent workshop brought representatives from the public and private sectors around the table to formulate a strategic approach for sustainable information flows on the CSME in Dominica.
The CSME communication planning workshop is part of a broader platform to build capacity among public and private sector stakeholders to develop and sustain well packaged information on the Single Market for use by nationals.
In his opening remarks, Director of Trade Matthan Walter reinforced the importance of ownership by all Dominican entities which are responsible for facilitating CARICOM nationals - resident or moving, through the administration of processes, or in information sharing about the CSME.
“Dominica has several achievements in honoring its obligation under the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, as it remains on the path towards sustained regional integration… all authorized restrictions on the free movement of goods, services, capital, and rights of establishment to specified, identified categories of CARICOM nationals has been removed, he said.
Dr Walter urged stakeholders to be active and to invest in developing new and innovative strategies for dissemination of specific information on how to access and utilize various opportunities which are available within the CSM. “These achievements mean little if Dominicans remain in the dark about the CSME Regimes, what they mean in economic terms, and how to access them”, he said
In her opening remarks workshop facilitator, Barbara Jacobs-Small, stressed the importance of ownership and sustainability of the CSME message as a necessary output of the exercise.
“Today’s workshop brings national CSME stakeholders together around the table to speak to the public education strategy – the people it must touch, the gaps it must address, and the legacy it must deliver; so that the final product resonates with those who will be charged to implement it …”, she said
Ms. Jacobs-Small informed that between January and March 2015, complementary activities for improving information flows to critical CSME stakeholders in Dominica, namely officials, beneficiaries, teachers, CSME spokespersons and media workers will include on-site work meetings with agencies involved in the administration of processes for the Free Movement of Skills, Capital, Services, Goods and the Right Of Establishment; training of spokespersons to efficiently communicate on the CSME; media training to enhance knowledge of the CSME and its workings; and training of Teachers to integrate the CSME into the school curricula, to engender a regionalist mindset among youth.
The project falls under Component 300 of the CARICOM Trade and Competitiveness Project (CTCP), which is funded by Canada and executed by the CARICOM Secretariat. It seeks to widen the scope of participation by stakeholders and beneficiaries in the process of decision-making, implementation and operation of the CSM.
Stakeholders participating in the workshop which was held on 11 December 2014 included the Customs and Excise Department, the Dominica Coalition of Services Industries, the Government Information Service, the Bureau of Standards, the OECS Competitiveness Business Unit, the Division of Trade and the Invest Dominica Authority.
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