CSME

Mr. President,

The Caribbean Community deeply appreciates this opportunity to address the Security Council on the situation in Haiti.

One year ago, we were all gravely concerned about deteriorating political and security conditions in Haiti. With Haitian agreement and international support, the Caribbean Community launched a diplomatic initiative. Underpinned by the principles of democracy and good governance enshrined in the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the CARICOM initiative sought the following_

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana)   Trade Ministers of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States, Cuba and the Dominican Republic will participate in a meeting with the European Union Commissioner For Trade, His Excellency Peter Mandelson on Thursday, 6 January 2005. The meeting will take place in Georgetown, Guyana, where Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers are scheduled to convene the Eighteenth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Friday, 7 January [2005].

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) shapes up for the 2005 implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) the future looks promising for entrepreneurs, but a continued unified front among Member States remains important to the CARICOM integration process.

A new group of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Youth Ambassadors, selected from among their peers across the Region, will participate in a four-day strategic planning workshop beginning Saturday 31st July 2004 in St Kitts and Nevis. The young persons will be inducted into the Ambassadorship Programme at a function scheduled to take place at the headquarters of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in Bird Rock in the twin-island state.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) trade officials and representatives of national standards bureaux will participate in a Training for Trainers Workshop aimed at assisting CARICOM Member States to reap maximum rewards in the global trade arena.

The CARICOM Secretariat is collaborating with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) in staging the Workshop which will take place in Barbados 8-10 September 2004 The Workshop will focus on Standards and Technical Regulations, which can sometimes be used as artificial barriers to free trade.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has received the assurances of the Government of Italy's representative in the Region that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are among the areas in which Italy is interested in increased cooperation with CARICOM. While giving this commitment to the Secretary-General of CARICOM, His Excellency Mr. Edwin Carrington on Monday (July12), Italy's Plenipotentiary Representative to CARICOM, His Excellency Mr. Gerardo Carante proposed a mechanism of consultations between CARICOM and Italy on all matters of common interest.

The implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) by 2005 is crucial to the social and economic advancement of the peoples of the Region in an era of increased globalisation and dominance by large economic groupings, Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Hon. Baldwin Spencer told staff of the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana today.

A group of media practitioners and government Communications Officers from Suriname are expected to benefit from a training programme next week as preparation for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is accelerated in that Member State.

From 30 March – 02 April a team of resource persons from the CARICOM Secretariat will conduct the four-day seminar, which will focus on capacity building in media related skills and techniques for the accurate transfer of information on the CSME and the CCJ to various local audiences.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) concluded its second free trade agreement with a country in the wider Caribbean with the signature of the CARICOM-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement today in Jamaica. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson on behalf of CARICOM and President Abel Pacheco of Costa Rica signed the Agreement in the presence of a gathering, which included members of the Costa Rican and Jamaican cabinets, private sector representatives of both countries, and the Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Edwin Carrington.