(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) It is an honour for me to address you on behalf of Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, Secretary General (acting) of the Caribbean Community at this Regional Forum on Aid for Trade for the Caribbean. She has asked that I convey her best wishes for a stimulating and successful event.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat readily welcomed the invitation to collaborate with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Secretariat and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the organisation of this event. I wish to acknowledge the contributions of the staff from each of those organisations who have made it possible for us to be here today. This Forum presents a valuable opportunity for representatives from CARICOM Member States, regional and sub-regional organisations, the private sector and international development partners to take stock of the experience with Aid for Trade to date and to share perspectives on how the Region’s experience with Aid for Trade can be enhanced leading up to the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade scheduled for July this year.

A WTO publication states: “Aid for Trade is about assisting developing countries to increase exports of goods and services, to integrate into the multilateral trading system, and to benefit from liberalized trade and increased market access.” The WTO Task Force on Aid for Trade has broken down Aid for Trade into six categories of intervention, namely:

• Trade policy and regulations
• Trade development
• Trade-related infrastructure (which includes transport and storage, energy, and telecommunication)
• Building productive capacity
• Trade-related adjustment, and Other trade related needs

Incidentally, I am advised that the telecommunication category should be expanded to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) since the technology has gone well beyond telecommunications. The Region has now embraced in its Draft ICT Strategy, a definition where ICT includes telecoms.

When one looks at these categories identified by the Task Force, it becomes obvious that the Region has been receiving Aid for Trade flows. A very rough and preliminary estimate suggests that at the regional level, we have received about US$310.0 million between 2006 and 2010, with approximately US$220.0 million in the pipeline so far for the next five years. But when we look behind the figures, it suggests that a substantial amount of these flows have been provided for “trade policy and regulation”, and “trade development”. Other categories such as “trade-related infrastructure” and “building productive capacity” do not feature prominently enough.

It was with this in mind that the Conference of Heads of Government decided there must be a focused regional approach to Aid for Trade and that the major Aid for Trade projects developed by the Region should be transformational in nature and positively impact the greatest possible number of people in the Caribbean Community. In this regard, our Heads also agreed that priority should be given to developing project proposals in the areas of Maritime Transport and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), with particular reference to facilitating competitiveness, the delivery of exports, and the re-engineering of the Region’s productive capacity.

These two priorities, Maritime Transport and ICT are in addition to the other priorities which were earlier identified by the Region. The CARICOM Secretariat had also been mandated to develop and pursue mobilisation of Aid for Trade resources for the establishment of an Infrastructure Fund to be used to enhance the Region’s infrastructure related to its exports, and at the same time to develop a regional approach to addressing Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements as the Region confronts the new demands and challenges of an increasingly liberalised and competitive international trading environment. Trade Facilitation is also to be accorded priority.

You will note from what I have just said that trade-related infrastructure is a very high priority for us in the Region.

This occasion allows me the opportunity to acknowledge the excellent partnership the Secretariat enjoys with the Inter-American Development Bank in seeking to advance the work in relation to Maritime Transport, ICT, the Infrastructure Fund, SPS, Trade Facilitation, as well as Services. The Secretariat was specifically mandated by Heads of Government to forge a partnership with the IDB, and the Bank has responded in the best possible way. While work proceeds on development of projects in those areas with a view to their presentation to development partners not long from now, the IDB is also partnering with the Secretariat on the development of a Regional Aid for Trade Strategy, which must of necessity build on national strategies. In this regard, the Bank has also agreed to support the strengthening of the capacity of the Secretariat to manage and monitor the Aid for Trade agenda and also to assist Member States in their Aid for Trade initiatives as required.

While at both the national and regional level we may have gotten off to a slow start on developing approaches to Aid for Trade, much has been achieved over the last eighteen months. I wish to acknowledge the launch of its Aid for Trade Strategy by Belize just last Friday and to commend the effort by Jamaica to develop its strategy with the support of the IDB. I wish to urge other Member States to consider similar approaches to those of Belize and Jamaica.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge and express appreciation for the contribution by development partners to regional Aid for Trade initiatives. The European Union has been the major contributor, with a preliminary estimate of US$ 244 million between 2006 and 2009. The EU has also reinforced its commitment to the Region, through the undertakings in respect of Aid for Trade flows as set out in the Declaration on Development Cooperation annexed to the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement. Other donors such as Canada, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth Secretariat/TradeCom Facility and IDB/WTO accounted for some US$ 46 million over the same period.

I would also like to acknowledge the commitment, often reiterated, of Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO, that once the Region has developed its major Aid for Trade projects for presentation to international development partners, he will use his good offices to assist in the leveraging of resources for those projects. The Director-General and his staff have followed through on that commitment and have maintained regular contact with the Secretariat in order to be kept abreast of developments.

At the same time, I do not wish to leave you with the impression that Aid for Trade resource mobilisation or development of an Aid for Trade strategy is without challenges. The fact that only two of our states have formally embarked on development of strategies could be reflective of those challenges. I would like the international development partners present to take note of some of the challenges and concerns that countries in our Region have to address. This listing is neither exhaustive nor reflective of an order of priority.

• CARICOM members, for the most part, are small, highly indebted, middle income countries that are vulnerable to natural disasters and other external threats. Seven of the world’s most heavily indebted countries per capita are to be found in our Region;

• While Aid for Trade is intended to be a mix of grants and concessional loans, some countries in CARICOM have been graduated out of accessing concessional loans, while others may be precluded from accessing Aid for Trade loan financing because of fiscal challenges;

• The small size of many of our Member States as well as their private sector means that public/private sector partnership as envisaged under Aid for Trade will remain elusive. This may also be true of their capacity to attract investment;

• If Aid for Trade is to be a tool for the development of the Small Vulnerable Economies of CARICOM, international development partners should take a sympathetic view to providing support for infrastructure, where such infrastructure is directly related to the development of the export trade of these countries. Aid for Trade resources in the form of grants must be provided to meet such needs;

• While assistance from development partners to bolster the regulatory framework of CARICOM countries is required, it should not be restricted to such support. The fact is that public sector facilitation of the private sector should not be seen as being limited to enhancing regulatory frameworks. It extends to enhancement of physical infrastructure such as ports and SPS facilities, and building productive capacity in the private sector that will have a positive impact on exports;

The points just listed, highlight a simple truth. Aid for Trade flows must have a direct and positive impact on exports in keeping with the intention of the decision in Hong Kong and such flows must impact the entire value chain as CARICOM countries seek to expand their range of export products and diversify their markets.

In closing, let me say that the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat present at this Forum stand ready to assist in any way possible to make the deliberations a success and to advance our preparations for the Third Global Review on Aid for Trade in July

I thank you.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org