St Vincent & The Grenadines Will Not Jump ‘Blindly’ Into CSME

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

15 June 2005

Whilst the Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has pledged that the country's future lies within the CARICOM Single Market Economy, he has stated that it will not enter into the CSME "blindly".

In a recent address to parliament, Dr Gonsalves explained that although the government had signed the treaty establishing the CSME, "many pieces of the legislation, which we have passed here, are yet to be proclaimed".

He added that the government would "not go into this enterprise blindly".

"I want to see further liberalization of the process of freedom of movement of labour, and I want to see our regional stock exchange in the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) be the base for the widening of the CARICOM-wide stock exchange," he told lawmakers.

He went on to state that he also wanted to see in CARICOM "a full elaboration of the regional fund, which is required under Article 158 of the Treaty".

However, Dr Gonsalves stressed that the advantages of CSME participation are likely to outweigh the drawbacks, pointing in particular to "our labour, and also for our businesses with the stock exchange".

"At the same time, we want to see the provisions inside of the Treaty, which provides for special and deferential treatment for less developed countries that those be implemented in practice. They may have to be further elaborated," he noted.

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