CARICOM SECGEN SPEAKS ON EVE OF SINGLE MARKET

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 001317 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ECON ETRD BEXP CARICOM GY XL SUBJECT: CARICOM SECGEN SPEAKS ON EVE OF SINGLE MARKET ECONOMY REF: A. NASSAU 02107 ¶1. SUMMARY: A rare, frank press conference by CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington outlined some of the SIPDIS challenges that face the imminent CARICOM Single Market Economy (CSME). Information dissemination, funding for a regional development fund, reconciliation of laws, and memory of past failures at regional integration have emerged as obstacles to be surmounted. END SUMMARY. ¶2. In an informal question and answer session for media and diplomats, Carrington stated that the success of the CSME would require a sense of "ownership across the region". Noting that the European integration took thirty-five years to become reality, Carrington described the January 1, 2006 birth of the CSME as a "big psychological step" toward regional integration in the thirty-two years since the original Treaty of Chaguaramas (the Treaty). The CSME will initially include 9 CARICOM member states, with a declaration to be signed January 23 in Jamaica. Three other states--Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts, will evaluate their readiness for the CSME by the end of March. ¶3. Carrington spoke of a number of issues that had been of concern to various members in the run-up to CSME implementation. Most notable is the financing of a regional development fund, the operation of which was discussed at a conference in Jamaica Monday, December 11. Carrington stated that Trinidad and Tobago's US$10 million contribution to the fund should be viewed as a deposit to be augmented by multilateral development institutions, the donor community, and the private sector, as various consultants have estimated the fund would require anywhere from US$120 million to US$250 million. Referring to Guyana's concern whether it would be eligible to benefit from the fund despite its not being identified as a Less Developed County (LDC) in the Treaty, Carrington pointed to Article 156, which allows Heavily Indebted Poor Countries to receive LDC provisions. When asked about the future of a single Caribbean currency, Carrington stressed that for now, fixed convertibility among regional currencies is essential. ¶4. CARICOM General Counsel Winston Anderson also spoke of some issues of legal harmonization that have been of concern to some members in the advent of the CSME. In particular, some members have expressed concern that the non- discrimination provision in Article 7 of the Treaty would override restrictions on foreign landholding and foreign fishing vessels. The movement of CARICOM nationals is also a sensitive issue, as the Treaty calls for the free movement of skilled workers in Article 46. The proposed rotation of the Caribbean Court of Justice's proceedings through the member states is also to be determined. ¶5. Carrington noted that the "ghost of the federation"--a reference to the ill-fated attempt to create political union among 10 member territories as the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962--conditions some member states' reluctance to plunge into further regional integration. The Secretary General specifically lamented CARICOM member states' failure to take a more coordinated approach to accepting the terms of Venezuela's PetroCaribe oil-financing scheme. BULLEN