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Dr. Jan Yves Remy, Deputy Director of the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law Policy and Services, at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill.

BUSINESS MONDAY: TRADE SPECIALIST ISSUES FERRY CAUTION

A top Caribbean Trade Policy Specialist says while the region presses ahead with a fast ferry service, she does not want it being done at the expense of the development of the multilateral air services agreement.

Issuing the plea for caution is Dr. Jan Yves Remy, Deputy Director of the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law Policy and Services, at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill.

She participated in a recent discussion that looked at proposals to get Barbados and Caribbean economies out of their rut.

Dr. Remy made it clear up front that she is not opposed to the ferry, which is one of the recommendations in the report of the CARICOM Commission on the economy.

However, she does not want it to negatively impact the multilateral air services agreement. This, she reasoned, is on the cards as one way of improving the depressed economies across the region.

Proponents of the ferry system said it is being done to move goods and people around the region, and also to allow persons to   visit other Caribbean countries  with their vehicles and to explore those territories. In addition, it can lead to a more economic activities in the Caribbean, and against this background comes the likelihood of some private sector investment in the project.

Admitting that she likes the idea of the proposed ferry system, Dr. Yves Remy said however that the region has to move with caution with the two projects.

The SRC official recalled that during the height of the COVID- 19 pandemic last year, she saw the creation of some indigenous airlines, much to the benefit of the region. She remarked that with the negotiations taking place with the airlines, the finalisation of the multilateral air services agreement will allow indigenous airlines to thrive and grow, and to offer cheaper flights.

“So I won’t like to see the energy being sapped out of that burgeoning new airline industry, which is coming up to make air travel cheaper, at the expense of a bright, shining ferry project that everyone agrees has to happen and [which has] benefits,” Dr. Yves Remy declared.

“We only have so much energy in the region and where we are going to place that energy is really the question,” said the Trade Law Specialist.

Caribbean governments, including successive ones in Barbados, have failed to effect a viable air transportation system and have proceeded to levy taxes on airline tickets, making the cost of intra-regional travel expensive.

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