Delays To Caricom Single Market Preventing Caribbean Economic Development

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

05 January 2005

It is in the economic interests of all Caricom countries to bring the Caribbean Single Market into effect by the end of 2005, according to Antigua & Barbuda’s former High Commissioner to London, Sir Ronald Sanders, who warned that delays in its implementation are setting back regional economic progress.

In commentary published by Caribbean Net News, Sanders, who has served as a negotiator in various regional bodies in recent years, urged national governments to overcome their reticence towards the process that will lead to removal of barriers to trade and movement, and called for an “attitudinal change” in the mindset of the community’s governments and businesses.

“In essence, Caricom countries have to be open to investment, mergers and acquisitions from firms in other Caricom countries,” Sir Ronald wrote.

“If not their economies will remain constrained by limited local capital and dominated by a few large businesses to their detriment,” he warned.

The Caricom Single Market was initially scheduled to come into effect for all members by January 2005, although Bahamas has expressed a wish to remain outside the Single Market, while poor relations with Caricom will also leave Haiti on the sidelines.

However, Sanders noted that collective foot-dragging by the Caricom members has led to countries being ill-prepared for the Single Market initiative, with the exception of Barbados, which he noted was “way ahead” in its preparations for the Single Market compared to the other participating nations.

“It (Barbados) passed almost all the necessary legislation well ahead of time and had imaginative education programmes for its private sector and the general public,” he observed.

To improve access to investment capital within Caricom, Sanders called for members to work on the creation of a regional stock exchange in the next 11 months, and also urged the financial community to use the Single Market as an opportunity to invest more of their assets within the Caribbean.

“Many of these institutions are even now investing in other emerging markets. Why not in their own yard space? It may provide a way in to the Single Market that the Bahamas would find of some benefit,” argued Sanders.

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