(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Professor Norman Girvan of the University of the West Indies, Institute of International Relations, makes strong recommendations for the development of common policies for major sector priorities, in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), over the period 2006-2011. These include, Domestic Agriculture, Sustainable Tourism, Transport, Energy, and Information and Communication Technologies.

Prof. Girvan, speaking at Caribbean Connect, describes these as “key areas in which some movement should be implemented to enable businesses to truly operate in the Region as if it were indeed a single space”. Additional priorities for the period include: Harmonisation of Fiscal Incentives, Company Law, Labour Law, Capital Market Integration, Exchange Rate Coordination, and Freedom of Movement.

CSME implementation priorities recommended by Professor Girvan project as far as the year 2015. He lists these, for the period 2011-2015, as Caribbean Monetary Union, and the Harmonisation of Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy and Taxation Regimes.

Caribbean Connect, a three-day, high level Symposium, 28-30 June 2006, is taking place at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in Barbados, under the patronage of Barbados Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur, Head of Government with responsibility for matters relating to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Caribbean Connect has brought together some three hundred business executives from banking, insurance, trade and manufacturing, Government ministers and officials, academia, labour and civil society.

Contact: piu@caricom.org
             cjames@caricom.org