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Photo of St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and several Caribbean
Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers in Trinidad |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, DECEMBER 20TH 2005 - The Caribbean
Single Market and Economy (CSME) will bring great benefits to the
Caribbean Community as a whole and would help to raise regional
growth rates.
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas said
his ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party firmly believes that the
regional integration movement could only stand on a firm footing if
the relevant institutions are governed by the principles of fairness
and equity, and if each member draws real and tangible benefits from
participation in these institutions.
"The CSME would enhance the region's prospects for the efficient
utilisation of labour and other factors of production, while
providing access to a greater variety of goods and services in a
more competitive environment. This could in turn accelerate the
pace of regional economic development, and provide improved
standards of living and enhanced employment opportunities in the
region," Dr. Douglas.
He was however of the view that while the benefits of the CSME for
the region as whole is beyond doubt, it has become quite clear that
not every country in the region will share in these benefits unless
some appropriate mechanism is put in place to redistribute the gains
of the CSME in a fair and equitable manner.
Dr. Douglas said that there could be some winners and some losers as
the small island Caribbean states proceed with the implementation of
the CSME.
It is clear that the OECS countries will be among the losers as
Heads of Government of the OECS received a study commissioned by the
OECS Secretariat, which presented hard data highlighting the real
and potential benefits and challenges for OECS Member States
participation in the impending CSME.
The study highlighted the fact that the balance of trade between the
OECS and the rest of CARICOM has been increasingly unfavourable to
OECS countries, widening from US$214 million to US$481 million
between 1980 and 2003.
Moreover, one of the distinguished Economists of the OECS and the
Caribbean as whole, Sir Alister McIntyre has expressed the view that
"the provisions in favour of the LDC's in the revised Treaty of
Chaguaramas need to be revisited and operationalised, as a priority
matter" and that "a case can be made for elaborating these
provisions in the form of detailed annexes to Protocol VII of the
Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas or in texts of equivalent legal
authority."
Prime Minister Douglas said he fully support Sir Alister's position
on the need to activate the provisions in favour of the LDC's and
that the Regional Development Fund could play a significant role in
redistributing the gains of the CSME.
"I share the view of a number of OECS Heads that the establishment
of a properly constituted and well-funded Regional Development Fund
is an important prerequisite to the participation of the OECS in the
CSME," said Prime Minister Douglas, who added that even when the
Regional Development Fund is set up and the countries proceed with
the implementation of the CSME in January 2006 as planned, "it will
also be necessary to monitor the progress of the OECS countries in
the CSME and keep the relevant Protocols under review so that
appropriate adjustments could be made to ensure that the tiny
nations of the OECS are afforded special and differential treatment
in the CSME as intended by the original framers of the CARICOM
Treaty when they placed the OECS countries in the category of Less
Developed Countries."
The St. Kitts and Nevis leader expressed confidence that the people
and leaders of the Caribbean will resolve all outstanding issues in
a manner that facilitates the expeditious implementation of the CSME
to the benefit of the Caribbean Community as a whole and each
individual member state.
"We are therefore proceeding with our preparations for participation
in the CSME. In particular, we have made good progress with the
implementation of the provisions relating to the freedom of movement
of people, and we have recently launched our machine-readable
passport in the format agreed to by CARICOM member states," said Dr.
Douglas.
He noted that the 73-year-old governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour party
of which he is the current National Political Leader has had a long
tradition of giving strong and unwavering support to the regional
integration movement.
"We believe that, in view of the trend toward globalisation and the
increasingly fierce and intense competition in global markets,
regional integration is even more critical to the progress of the
Caribbean region than ever before," said Dr. Douglas. He said the
Labour Party will remain true to this tradition.
