A range of trade, economic and agricultural issues related to the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), is among the packed agenda for the Ninth Meeting of Ministers of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which takes place in Barbados on 16th and 17 June, 2000.
COTED promotes trade and economic development within CARICOM and oversees the operations of the CSME.
CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is engaged in an all out effort to complete the institutional framework to take forward the regional integration process. Among the critical areas being addressed is the implementation of Protocol VII in which case the Community Council of Ministers will be defining a way forward. They will also look at the future of the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) and review the progress being made towards the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Jamaica, on Tuesday at the Second Special Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP), joined Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago in making an initial pledge to the regional Development Fund. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago had made initial pledges last December at the First Special Meeting of COFAP.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has made a call for fairness in international financing for Small Island Developing States (SIDs), noting that they have been experiencing a battering from climate impacts, not of their own making.
“We have had to face the sharp end of climate change impacts in conjunction with our other inherent vulnerabilities. It is, therefore, crucial that vulnerability be the main criterion in determining access to concessional financing, which we urgently need in our quest for resilience.”
The Organs of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) must move to adopt a greater sense of urgency and clarity of purpose if the Region is to successfully navigate the current difficult circumstances.
Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Mia Mottley delivered this charge Tuesday at the opening of the Fifty-Second Meeting of the COTED.
