(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater
Georgetown, Guyana) The Conference on the Caribbean
wrapped up at the Organisation of American States
(OAS) in Washington DC on Thursday 21 June with The
Hon. Dr Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts
and Nevis hailing the event as an “overwhelming
success”.
He said the historic three-day round of meetings
- held under the theme 'Conference on the Caribbean:
a 20/20 Vision' - will be the launch pad to
sustained relations with the Region, the United
States and the Caribbean Diaspora.
The Conference, he said, was historic as much for
the content of the agenda as the integrity of the
discourse and the consolidation of bonds of
friendship that were already forged.
"Washington may never be the same again after
this Conference," Prime Minister Douglas said.
The highpoint of the Conference was the summit of
leaders and US President George W. Bush at the State
Department on 20 June. Three concurrent fora –
Experts Forum, Private Sector Dialogue and the
Diaspora Forum – were held at the World Bank, the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the OAS,
respectively.
At the various fora, Heads of Government and
regional officials identified issues, challenges and
setbacks in CARICOM's march towards a 20/20 vision,
Prime Minister Douglas pointed out, and added that
the Region sought partnership, collaboration and
cooperation with the United States based on the
“understanding of who we are”.
The proposals that emerged from the meetings, he
said, were to be translated into positive results.
Earlier in the day, rapporteurs of the Diaspora
Forum, the Experts Forum, and the Private Sector
Dialogue made presentations at the Hall of the
Americas, OAS.
Heads of Government interacted with the Diaspora
during two sessions of the Diaspora Forum. Both
Caribbean Americans and the Leaders raised several
issues of importance to them and their views
coincided on the need for:
- a more structured approach to engaging the
Diaspora;
- transforming remittances into investment;
- encouraging and empowering a well-education
youth population both in the Region and in the
Diaspora;
- encouraging youth in the Diaspora to become
more involved in the development of the Region;
- accessing the skills available in the
Diaspora to help develop the Region;
- assistance for deportees’ re-integration
into life in the Caribbean.
At a press conference on 20 June at the OAS,
President Bharrat Jagdeo hailed the interaction with
the Diaspora as a success and pointed out that
Caribbean people living in the US can build a strong
lobbying group to draw US policy makers' attention
to issues affecting them and the Region.
Recommendations that evolved from the Private
Sector Forum included:
- the need for the Region to change its
mindset to move from traditional emphasis on
comparative advantage based on natural resources
to competitive advantage based on human
resources;
- access to financing on appropriate terms for
small and medium size enterprises;
- negotiate mature economic relationships that
include recognition of people and support for
building infrastructure;
- urgent action to finalise the Regional
Energy Policy;
- seeking EPA-type model for any future
agreement with the United States with a
significant development component;
- strengthening local presence at the State
level in the United States through trade and
economic Consuls.
The Experts Forum recommended:
- priority be given to education to develop
the Region’s capacity to deal with the global
economic scenario;
- boosting literacy and numeracy skills;
- obtaining requisite resources for
capacity-building on climate change;
- increasing productive capacity, including
physical, institutional, legal and human
infrastructure;
- moving from a crisis management style to a
strategic management style at the level of
firms, nations and the Region as a whole;
- continuing the process of implementing the
CSME, in particular the free movement of
persons;
The Conference on the Caribbean was held during
the second celebration of Caribbean American
Heritage Month.
Contact:
piu@caricom.org
