(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) As Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) work to expand their export capacities to participate in multilateral trading systems, calls are being made for the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Aid for Trade mechanism to be a tool for development, particularly for small vulnerable economies of CARICOM.

Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Assistant Secretary-General, Directorate of Trade and Economic Integration, CARICOM Secretariat expressed those sentiments at the opening of the WTO Regional Forum on Aid for Trade for the Caribbean on Tuesday 25 January 2010 in Barbados.

He said if Aid for Trade was 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 was directly related to the development of the export trade of these countries.

According to a WTO classification, 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 Assistant Secretary-General said that the CARICOM Heads of Government had decided on a “focused approach” for an Aid for Trade strategy in the Region focussing on Maritime Transport; Information and Community Technologies; and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, to boost competitiveness, the delivery of export and re-engineer the Region’s productive capacity.

As the Region confronted the new demands and challenges of an increasingly liberalised and competitive international trading environment, he said the CARICOM Secretariat had been involved in mobilising Aid for Trade resources for the establishment of an Infrastructure Fund. The Fund would 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.

However, Ambassador LaRocque said amid efforts by the Region to develop robust mechanisms to participate in the multilateral trading system, challenges persisted.

He said while Aid for Trade was intended to be “a mix of grants and concessional loans”, some countries in CARICOM had graduated out of accessing concessional loans, while others may be precluded from accessing Aid for Trade loan financing because of fiscal challenges.

Further, he noted that the small sizes of many of CARICOM Member States as well as their private sector meant that public-private sector partnership, as envisaged under Aid for Trade, will remain elusive; and this might also be true of their capacity to attract investment.

Against this backdrop, the ASG said that while assistance from development partners was required to bolster the regulatory framework of CARICOM countries, it should not be restricted to that area.

“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 Ambassador said.

He lauded the contributions of development partners to regional Aid for Trade initiatives noting that the European Union had been the major contributor, with a preliminary estimate of US$ 244 million between 2006 and 2009. Other donors such as Canada, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth Secretariat/TradeCom Facility and International Development Bank/WTO had accounted for some US$ 46 million of Aid for Trade flows over the same period.

The Ambassador acknowledged the excellent partnership the CARICOM Secretariat enjoyed with the Inter-American Development Bank in seeking to advance work in relation to Maritime Transport, ICT, the Infrastructure Fund, SPS, Trade Facilitation, as well as Services.

While work proceeded on development of projects in those areas, he said the IDB was also partnering with the Secretariat on the development of a Regional Aid for Trade Strategy, which would build on national strategies by strengthening the capacity of the Secretariat to manage and monitor the Aid for Trade agenda and assist Member States in their national initiatives.

In this context, Ambassador LaRocque acknowledged the launch of an Aid for Trade Strategy by Belize on 21 January and commended efforts by Jamaica to develop its strategy with the support of the IDB. He urged other Member States to consider similar approaches as those taken by Belize and Jamaica.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org