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| Prime Minister Patrick Manning | THE PROCESS of integration among Caricom states has been anything but easy, Prime Minister Patrick Manning admitted yesterday.
Pitching how important it is that Caricom leaders not lose sight of the strong pursuit of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), as he spoke at the launch of the commemorative CSME stamp issue at the Central Bank Auditorium in Port of Spain yesterday, Manning was resolute.
"The road has been long and winding, full of bumps, gaping holes, bottlenecks and other forestalling factors - not surprisingly, until the formation of the Single Market this year, in the eyes of the people of our region, it appeared as though we were going nowhere," Manning said.
He stressed however: "While in many instances the region may have stumbled and fumbled, as a Caricom Head of State, I can tell you that Caricom leaders have never lost sight of the imperatives - the problems and challenges of our region have never afforded us that luxury."
Manning noted that regional integration at the level at which it is being pursued today has never been a challenge we could have set aside.
Highlighting where globalisation has fallen critically short, he reasoned: "Globalisation has produced unprecedented levels of growth in the global economy, but it has also increased inequality around the world.
In January, 2006, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago signed the historic declaration, which brought into being the Caribbean Single Market component of the CSME.
~~Adz:Right~~Six other member states, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, have indicated their intention to join at the end of this month. |
