CGID queries Strengthening Caribbean regional integration
US ambassador
to Guyana’s
statement
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Caribbean Life, February 14-20, 2020 11
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ment appeared to be predicated singularly
on false propaganda by the opposition
PPP and other anti-government
entities.
I have the utmost respect and
admiration for these ambassadors.
I believe that they are objective and
want to ensure that the March 2, 2020
elections are credible, free and fair.
I see their love and respect for the
Guyanese people, and appreciate their
eagerness to assist Guyana to achieve
its development goals.
Diplomats must eschew embracing
one political party or another in an
elections, as well as eschew the perception
thereof. This is precisely why
the Sept. 19, 2019 statement, which
was damaging to our country and led
to partisan attacks against the government,
requires urgent clarification
by the US ambassador.
Rickford Burke is the president,
Caribbean Guyana Institute for
Democracy (CGID)
on well-aligned national interests and
shared goals, but national incentives
do not seem to be well-aligned for
integration, with its potential benefits
perceived by some as uncertain,
potentially uneven, and only materializing
over a long horizon.
Differing export/production structures
and income and development
levels make it challenging to harmonize
economic and structural policies
around well-integrated policy frameworks.
Some regional authorities attribute
the slow pace of implementation to a
“crisis of will,” as much as to wasteful
duplication and slow progress in
harmonizing legal and institutional
frameworks and to binding resource/
capacity gaps.
A worthwhile goal
The Caribbean authorities broadly
agree that integration should remain
a top priority and greater collaboration
is critical to tackle common
challenges. It is important to capitalize
on this momentum.
Recent IMF research finds that further
liberalization of trade and greater
labor mobility within the region
can generate significant benefits.
A 25-percent reduction in nontariff
barriers and trade costs within
CARICOM and vis-à-vis non-CARICOM
trade partners can boost trade
and improve welfare gain for all members—
at about $6 billion, or 7.6 percent
of the region’s GDP in 2018.
It can also help restructure economies
from contracting to expanding
sectors, resulting in a net employment
gain across the region.
Way forward
Greater cooperation is the key to
furthering regional integration in the
Caribbean. While these economies’
small size and supply constraints
may potentially limit benefits from
economic integration, acting as a
group can enhance the scale, bringing
widespread benefits and helping
the region further tap into global
value chains.
That is, regional integration should
not be an end-goal, but a means to an
end of deepening Caribbean integration
into the global economy.
At a time when momentum for
economic integration seems to have
stalled, close cooperation in high priority
areas for the region can help
demonstrate benefits of coordinated
action and serve as a building block to
the ultimate goal of full integration.
Key areas could include:
• Addressing impediments
to institutional integration by harmonizing
and rationalizing institutions
and processes across the region
and resolving resource/capacity constraints;
• Facilitating an equitable distribution
of benefits through well-structured,
adequately-resourced mechanisms
to help realign national and
regional interests;
• Enhancing functional policy
coordination in the areas of common
challenges, including building
climate resilience, containing violent
crime, and coordinating tax policies
and systems to limit harmful competition;
and
• ensuring financial stability in
an increasingly more interconnected
financial system.
What is CARICOM?
*The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
is comprised of 20 countries
(fifteen Member States and five Associate
Members), mostly island states
in the Caribbean stretching from the
Bahamas in the north to Suriname
and Guyana in South America. It was
established by the English-speaking
parts of the Caribbean in 1973 with
the primary objectives to promote
economic integration and cooperation
among its members, ensure that
the benefits of integration are equitably
shared, and coordinate foreign
policy. CARICOM is the oldest existing
integration movement in the
developing world.
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