First let me begin these remarks by thanking Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer who not only leads the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, but also leads the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the area of Services, for agreeing to be the patron of this Symposium. I will also like to thank the Members of his Cabinet and the public officials here in Antigua and Barbuda, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that we can meet here over the next three days and fully examine this dominant and most critical sector of our regional economies.

A month ago we officially launched this Regional Symposium with three principal objectives in mind:- Firstly, to sensitise the key stakeholders in the sector on how to capitalise on the Region’s comparative advantage in the area of Services for export;

Secondly, to develop a Draft Plan of Action for the period 2009-2014; and

thirdly, to agree on the elements of the Services component of the Regional Strategic Plan for Development within the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

These three objectives were set within the context of the on-going work to create the CARICOM Single Economy and are in keeping with the role identified for services in the Report entitled “Towards A Single Development Vision and the Role of the Single Economy”. This Report by the eminent Professor Norman Girvan identified the Services Sector as one of the major drivers of the economy for the Community and was adopted by Heads of Government in 2007 at the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Conference.

The Services Sector as the largest sector of the Community, accounts for more than sixty-six percent of annual total output of goods and services – the GDP. It also accounts for more than seventy percent of those employed. Here in Antigua and Barbuda, the Services Sector is estimated to account for more than ninety-five percent of total output and Antigua and Barbuda ranks second in the Region in terms of the share of Services output to total output. In fact, therefore, it could be asserted that the Regional economy is a services-based economy. And yet the Community has spent the overwhelming share of its time and effort on the goods sector. With the agriculture sector, especially sugar and Bananas, having lost their preferential positions in their historical markets, particularly in the European Union and with the manufacturing sector never having fully developed into a major sector in the Region, the reliance on services was inescapable.

The outcome of the analysis just referred to points to the importance of the Sector in all its dimensions. This was fully recognised as the Community moved to implement the Work Programme and the decision to deepen the regional integration movement outlined as far back as the 1989 Grand Anse Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government. Under Articles 36, 37, 38 and 44 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas there is a legal framework which governs the provision of services in the Single Market which began operation in 2006.

Apart from the internal Community arrangements, external Trade in Services is also of great importance to the Community. For example, in 2008 the Community entered into an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), which is considered to provide significant opportunities for the Services Sector. However, in order for the Community to benefit from this Agreement and such future agreements, it would need to make its services sector, as a whole, more efficient and competitive, while identifying and exploiting specific areas within the sector where the Community has a competitive advantage.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, but making trade possible is only the beginning of the challenge. Seizing the opportunities requires a number of other factors - infrastructure, technology, know-how, financing and market intelligence. The future of a competitive Caribbean regime in services and a more beneficial integration into the multilateral trading system depends on all Member States coming together to address those challenges and to design and implement a strategy for success.

That coming together includes the full utilisation of the provisions of the Revised Treaty with respect to free movement of skills and service providers and the rights of establishment. The Revised Treaty has two different arrangements for the free movement of persons, one for non-wage earners and another for wage earners. Community nationals are free to use any of these two arrangements and moving under one regime today does not exclude one from using the other regime tomorrow. These opportunities offered by the new arrangements can be used in the honing of skills and as ideal preparation for confronting the global market.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are however, all aware of the numerous constraints faced by the Services Sector. The costs of telecommunications and transport, where available, are high. Venture capital is scarce and the cost of borrowing is still relatively high. Manpower with specialized skills in particular service occupations is in short supply. Small and Medium Enterprise Management skills and technology need upgrading. External markets are highly competitive. The CARICOM Services Regime is incomplete and that list is by no means complete. Mr. Chairman, events like this Symposium, however, can begin the focus on how to address the constraints.

The preparations for this Symposium, for example, have been a rich learning experience for the CARICOM Secretariat. Firstly, we have been getting complaints from Consultants across the Region that the job-opportunity playing field is not level and that foreign consultants are getting the lion’s share of the work. We commissioned twenty-four concept papers and a decision was taken to hire qualified and experienced Community nationals. Invitations were published in the print and electronic media requesting Community nationals to express an interest to prepare, submit and present these papers.

The response was rather mixed. Expressions were received for some areas of work and not in others. In many cases there were not enough responses to facilitate selection of consultants. We had to extend the period of advertisement in some instances.

After a long period we finally were able to complete the selection process and choose the consultants. Later during interfacing with stakeholders, we were told that they were not aware that work was being commissioned. Some consultants even admitted that they do not read newspapers or follow-up notices on the internet.

Those comments were instructive given that many opportunities exist or are emerging from trade agreements which we have signed with other countries and can mostly be found in the media and on the internet. Services Sector stakeholders must seek out these opportunities, must become familiar with the procurement rules, must fulfil these requirements and must submit bids. If they do not participate then they should not complain of lack of opportunity or about the playing field not being level.

Honourable Prime Minister, distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, over the next three days we are expected to put our heads together to come up with the elements and outline of the Regional Strategic Plan for Services, and a five-year Plan of Action. It is indeed a daunting task but I am hopeful that the mix of skills, experience, and expertise gathered here is adequate to meet this challenge. A critical aspect of this challenge is the need to recognise and take steps to build a Services Sector which does not rely as overwhelmingly as our current services sector does on tourism. Indeed, a review of the Region’s Services Sector entitled: “Beyond Tourism: The Future of the Services Industry in the Caribbean” by Daniel P. Erikson and Joyce Lawrence, strongly argues this case and many of you may find that review worthy of some consideration. Equally, we must also recognise that even when we have successfully diversified our Services Sector we will not be immune to the kind of attacks which even friendly administrations may unleash on our policies, as the new Obama Administration has on our offshore financial services sector, terming it Tax Haven. Again, I repeat, only by standing together can we succeed. Finally, I am looking forward to constructive discussions and to the setting out of a roadmap for the next part of the journey in the Caribbean integration process with services being a key driver. I urge everyone here to maintain the momentum and strive to ensure that whatever commitments we make here to developing the Services Sector are honoured. For that has been the Achilles’ heel of our Community – the implementation deficit. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for the opportunity to be once again, in service to the public.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org