CARICOM Pushes Free Trade With Central America

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

01 March 2007

Ministers of Trade of the governments of the Republics of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama - and the countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) - recently met in Belize City to discuss bilateral trade relations among their countries and their experiences in international trade negotiations, including in the multilateral trade forum.

The ministers reiterated their commitment to deepen relations in an effort to generate new trade and development opportunities among their countries, and agreed to initiate negotiations to formalize trade relations among their countries during 2007.

To facilitate this process, agreement was reached to use as a basis the current CARICOM-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement, which provides for accession by other countries of the two sub-regions and is seen as the most appropriate tool for achieving the early realization of enhanced trade relations among the participating countries.

The Meeting of Trade Ministers was preceded by a Meeting among Ministers of Foreign Affairs of CARICOM and Central America, at which a Plan of Action for cooperation between the two regions was signed.

Recommended