Minister Hogan, 2nd from rt
CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque addresses the Opening Ceremony of the Fortieth Meeting of COTED
A release from the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana, reports: Ministers with responsibility for Trade began a two-day Meeting on Thursday, April 23, against the background of greater urgency being attached to consolidating the Community’s gains under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Addressing the Opening ceremony of the Fortieth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Thursday morning at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown, Guyana, CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque placed emphasis on the progress being made on the CSME in the face of challenges the Community continued to face as a result of the volatile global economic environment.
“In our ceaseless efforts to boost our growth and economic prospects, utilising the provisions of the CSME to its fullest, provides us with the best option. It would allow us to exploit the full potential of our human resources as our skilled personnel move freely throughout the Community. The easier movement of capital would help to generate much needed investment. Our trade in goods and services can only be enhanced by the removal of whatever restrictions still remain,” he told the Ministers.
Secretary-General LaRocque also referred to the Secretariat’s continuing quest to improve the efficiency of the CSME systems and processes via the CARICOM Trade and Competitiveness Project, funded by the Canada. The project aims at improving the operational effectiveness of the Single Market as well as the acces of nationals to their rights under the regimes of the Single Market.
“That project would transform and harmonise the administrative practices and procedures under the five regimes of the CSME, and would also provide for the application of web-based technology.
“Once this Council takes the necessary decisions, those seeking skills certificates, for example, would be able to do so online in any Member State. The programme has the added bonus of furthering e-government processes in Member States,” Ambassador LaRocque said.
Chairman and reprsenting the Government of Montserrat, Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Land Housing and the Environment, the Hon. Claude E S Hogan gave opening remarks.
He applauded CARICOM: “I wish to applaud our regional successes at: finally reaching the stage of promulgating and observing community law an operationalizing the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ); the COTED’s necessary concern with Consumer Protection as reflected on the Agenda before us; that this COTED is conscious that the honey or pepper producers in Grenada or Montserrat are more concerned with fostering their own livelihoods and the livelihoods of their children than about the high platitudes of our discussions. I invite us therefore to see that this esteemed organ called the COTED and its mandate for regulation and facilitation is so critical to the future development of our countries and community that we concentrate over the next two days more on the process and desired outcomes and less on the combat over the issues.”
He added, “I am convinced that the economic architecture we have boldly created over these many years, through the implementation of the CSME, the CET and our various bilateral arrangements to resolve issues and smooth the operations of our regional economy, is one of our greatest inventions.
We have created an entire construct on the international legal plan that includes elements of derogation from rules and an appreciation of our special and differential needs and circumstances to allow our countries to foster integration among ourselves with the quest of ultimate integration into the global economy.”
Minister Hogan is the Change Driver to CARICOM for Montserrat. Montserrat is presently the Chair for the Council (COTED), and was represented at the technical meeting which ran from April 20 to 22, 2015, by Trade Officer Donato Cassell. Some matters addressed at this meeting were, improving the efficiency of the CSME, requests for the suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on certain products by some Member States and an update on the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade Development Agreement.
Other matters related to the CARICOM Single Market were among the key agenda items the Ministers considered.
Photo Caption:CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque addresses the Opening Ceremony of the Fortieth Meeting of COTED
Hogan
