(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, 01st JULY 2014 -- It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It is also my pleasure to welcome to the post of Chairman, the Honourable Gaston Browne, our host Prime Minister, who is participating in his first meeting of the Conference and starts at the helm.
Prime Minister, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your recent victory at the polls and express my appreciation for your ready acceptance of the leadership of the Community at this critical juncture of our integration process. Our initial exchanges have demonstrated to me quite clearly your personal commitment to the advancement of integration which is in keeping with your country’s prominent historical role in the pursuit of Caribbean unity.
Over the last six months, I have had the benefit of the counsel and guidance of another Prime Minister whose commitment to integration is well-known, Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Prime Minister, as Chairman, you guided us with dexterity and skill during your term and I express heartfelt gratitude to you on behalf of the Community.
Mr. Chairman, Heads of Government, this evening we honour a Caribbean woman for her achievement. Ms. Marion Bethel of The Bahamas will receive the 11th Triennial Award for Women. I will not pre-empt the citation but her variety of skills and accomplishments speak to the depth of talent that lies in this Caribbean Community. Ms. Bethel also demonstrates the type of commitment to our Region that is a fine example for many to emulate.
Also, this evening, the CARICOM song is part of our Opening Ceremony for the first time. It was composed by Ms. Michele Henderson, a national of Dominica. This supremely talented artiste won a competition that saw numerous entries from throughout our Community and I am assured that the entries were of a very high standard making the judges’ task exceedingly difficult. That song represents a stirring symbol of unity and evokes the history and traditions of our people.
I offer sincere congratulations to both Ms. Bethel and Ms. Henderson for their contributions to building our Community and uplifting our spirit of unity.
Mr Chairman, you assume your position at a time when our Region is looking to consolidate and reposition our integration process in an ever changing global environment. It is fitting that this place, Dickenson Bay, so rich in the history of our integration movement is the place where we gather once again, to do what is required to make our integration arrangements more effective in its response to the challenges of the day.
To make that transition, we must find collective solutions to the serious challenges, particularly with respect to our economic condition, that threaten the hard won gains of our people. The structural and institutional characteristics which affect growth in our small, vulnerable economies, combine to restrict our ability to compete internationally, expose our vulnerability to external events, and constrain our capacity for adjustment.
That vulnerability is demonstrated by the lingering effects of the global economic and financial crisis in our Region resulting among other things in stubbornly low growth rates. When added to a heavy debt burden and falling fiscal revenues, it leaves our governments with precious little room to manoeuvre especially as the International Financial Institutions and our development partners use the misleading criterion of per capita income to graduate us out of access to much needed concessionary development financing.
Importantly, neither the economic and financial crises nor the causes of climate change, another of our major challenges, originated with us. However, there is analytical evidence to prove that their impact on the economies of most CARICOM States has heightened the debt and fiscal challenges we face.
Formidable as these challenges are, our Community’s history clearly shows that we have never been daunted in the face of trials. It is now, in this period of acute economic stress faced by our Region that the spirit of unity that brings us together in all forms of adversity, is infusing our actions as we seek to build the Community’s resilience to withstand the shocks, whether they are economic, social or climatic. Never before in recent history, have so many of our Member States faced such challenges at the same time for such a protracted period.
It is in recognition of the need to find a regional resolution to the regional problem that our Heads of Government mandated that we prepare a Strategic Plan, which seeks to reposition the Community and which will inform the institutional mechanism to carry it forward. Having consulted extensively throughout the Community over the past year, the first ever Community Strategic Plan has been prepared. That Plan, geared towards refocusing, redirecting, and reorganising the Community, is before this meeting and will set our course for the immediate future and beyond.
The Plan has identified eight strategic priorities to address the challenges over the five year period. Broadly, this will involve building resilience in the economic, social, environmental and technological areas, as well as strengthening governance and our spirit of Community. Co-ordinating our Foreign and External Economic Relations, and Research, Development and Innovation are also essential elements of the strategy.
The key to the success of the Plan is agreement on the priority activities and the steps to implement them. That in itself 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.
A critical factor in delivering those benefits is how we organise ourselves to make it possible in an effective and efficient manner. 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.
Another important facet of that governance structure is the forging of partnerships with all our stakeholders - private sector, labour, civil society, youth - to drive the course of integration along an agreed path. 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.
One of those partners will be involved in a session at this Meeting, when our business leaders meet with the Heads of Government, giving further evidence of the participatory direction that the Community is taking. This interaction follows a similar one with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) last May and is a clear recognition of the fact that the full involvement of the private sector is necessary in order to achieve our economic goals. A private sector, vibrant and committed to the development of the Region is critical to providing a platform for economic growth.
Even as the Plan was being developed, we were taking steps to address the urgent challenges by bringing together some of our best minds in the areas of the economy, transportation, information and communication technology (ICT) and human resource development.
The Commission on the Economy, established last September, has submitted to the Heads of Government for their consideration at this Meeting, a draft plan of action on a sustainable growth strategy for the Community. With respect to Transportation, a similar Commission has commenced its work and has brought together the chief executives of all the state-owned air carriers in the Region. This is a first step towards increased collaboration and co-ordination among them to improve the services to the travelling public.
The ICT cluster of Institutions has been charged with forging the way forward in the creation of a Single ICT space in our Community. One of the objectives is to make ICT ubiquitous and to lower the cost of broadband, making internet more readily accessible to our citizens.
A soon to be constituted Human Resource Development Commission will be tasked with the development of a Regional Education and Human Resource Development Strategy. Part of that work will seek to match the output of our education and training systems with what is required for economic competitiveness. It will also help to alleviate the high incidence of youth unemployment which exists alongside skill shortages in several key areas.
Mr Chairman, Heads of Government, having been part of the team during some of the national consultations on the Strategic Plan, and having been on my own missions to Member States, I have heard a clear message that our people want integration. They want a CARICOM that is of and for them; a CARICOM that presents them and their loved ones with opportunities for jobs, for business, and to improve their lives.
The embers of integration were rekindled here at Dickenson Bay 49 years ago and it is to this historic place we return to fan the flames and keep the fires of unity burning.
Mr Chairman, I am certain that all delegations would join me in stating that the excellent arrangements put in place for this meeting has burnished the reputation for generous hospitality of the Government and People of Antigua and Barbuda. It is highly appreciated and provides the setting for a productive three days.
I thank you.
*************************
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
Antigua News