Dr. the Hon Henry Jeffrey, Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of Guyana and Chairman of this Fifth Meeting of the CARIFORUM Council of Ministers
Other Honourable Ministers
Other Heads of Delegation
Director General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my special pleasure today as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (CARIFORUM), to welcome you all to the Fifth Meeting of the CARIFORUM Council of Ministers.

In doing so, I have particular pleasure in welcoming to this Forum, Senator Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados. Madame Minister, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment and look forward to your unique insights in the true tradition of your government – friends of all, satellite of none.

Honourable Ministers, your Meeting today comes barely one month after the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM and the European Union (EU) in Barbados on 15 October. That milestone document has been the subject of much debate in the Region. Having signed the document however, the time has now come for the leadership necessary to guide us on the path of implementation.

EPA implementation is the dominant item on the Agenda of this Meeting and given the fact that we are about to commence the provisional application of the Agreement, we do not have a moment to waste in getting ourselves organized to implement and to benefit from that Agreement.

To do so, however, as I stated on the occasion of the signing of the Agreement, and I quote: “On the part of the CARIFORUM countries, it is critical that they share a common perspective that more - not less integration and co-operation, in content and in process, is indispensable. Vital in that context is the need for the Region to recognise that there must be a societal sea change in attitude and work ethic leading to a collective effort involving public and private sectors, labour and civil society, all aimed at enhancing our productivity and competitiveness.  This is absolutely necessary if the Region is to be able to compete effectively in the markets of the EC and even in our own regional markets. Moreover, this is the only way that we can ensure that our people benefit from the new global trading arrangements.”  Simply put, productivity enhancement is the name of the game.

On the same occasion, this was underlined by the Honourable Christopher Sinckler, then Barbados Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade when he reminded our EU partners of their commitment to providing development support to improve supply capacity and competitiveness in accordance with priorities identified by CARIFORUM as we move to implement the EPA.

Ladies and Gentlemen, just 10 days ago in Strasbourg, France, on behalf of CARIFORUM, I had the honour to sign the 10th European Development Fund Regional Support Programme and the Regional Indicative Programme. A significant part of the 165 million euros provided therein is intended to assist in the implementation of the EPA.

As we negotiated so we intend to implement – as CARIFORUM. The text of the EPA provides for joint political and technical bodies – for example the Joint CARIFORUM-EC Council and the CARIFORUM-EC Trade and Development Council. We must therefore, establish CARIFORUM regional bodies, where they do not already exist, in which to hold our own internal preparatory dialogue, before engaging the European Commission and Union, in the political and technical dialogue and in the pursuit of the consequential actions which are required under the EPA.

It is clear that the extent of the work needed to make this Agreement a reality is enormous and that the onus is on this Council to provide the necessary guidance to achieve the goals that will ultimately benefit the people of this Region in whose name we serve.

Mr. Chairman, Honourable Ministers, even as the ink is drying on the EPA and the 10th EDF which define our relations with Europe, the global trading arrangements loom large in our vision through the attempts to revive the Doha Development Round. At the Summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Group (APEC) last weekend, the President of the United States said that his administration would push hard in its closing months to complete the Doha talks. This statement came one week after the G20 Meeting in Washington, D.C. vowed to bring a resolution to the same Doha talks.

With that kind of impetus, the resumption of the Negotiations could see a new atmosphere, and the Region must therefore be prepared to participate meaningfully and vigorously promote its own positions in collaboration with like minded countries. Ministers, your deliberations and resulting recommendations today, on that topic, will provide the mandate for our negotiators.

Issues regarding bananas continue to engage our attention given that the future of this critical industry in the Region is cause for grave concern, particularly with regard to exports to the EU. The impact of developments within the Doha Round and bilateral agreements between the European Community and other suppliers certainly call for the Region to devise a strategy with some urgency to ensure that this industry has a future for our Region.

Honourable Ministers, your agenda includes a discussion on the upcoming Summit between Heads of Government of Latin America and the Caribbean. That Meeting, scheduled for 16-17 December, has the potential of deepening and strengthening integration and development among the countries involved. Specifically, it provides an opportunity to explore solutions to the common challenges faced by the countries of the two regions.

This Region should therefore, be prepared to engage with Latin America in a manner that would ensure that this exercise would advance the interests of the Caribbean.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, in closing, it is clear that what is before us today requires cogent and deliberate discussions and recommendations given the gravity of the issues. I am confident that your deliberations will be highly productive and most successful.

I thank you.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org