EDITORIAL - Regional integration test
THIS month Caribbean leaders will gather for their Intersessional Meeting in what ought to be a forum to deal with the myriad of issues that continue to affect this region.
As small states, the Caribbean Community of nations face mounting challenges which a vibrant integration movement would help to counteract. Against this background, it is
important to know what is in store for regional integration this year.
The countries of this region have for the past 50 odd years (taking into consideration attempts at Federation) been trying to fashion an integration movement aimed at bringing
countries closer together through functional cooperation, trade, foreign and economic policy, and providing the opportunities for the prosperity of people in the Caribbean. Even the critics of the integration process have agreed that while some progress has been made in education, health, and other areas, the Caribbean still has to press on in order to achieve the goals set out from inception of the integration movement, and to make more meaningful progress.
Still in recovery mode
But when one looks around it becomes very clear what is holding up Caribbean integration. Our countries have not yet fully recovered from the global economic situation of 2008. While some economies are growing, there are quite a few which have stagnated over the years. More of this will be made known soon when the Caribbean Development Bank gives its assessment of the performance of regional economies last year, and makes projections for 2018.
We in this region are also looking to see what will emerge from Brexit, which this year will see Britain inching closer to its exit from the European Union. It is agreed that this has implications for the Caribbean Community states, which may very well have to work out a future economic relation with the British. Our closest neighbour to the North needs watching as events continue to unfold there as well.
Last December the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Ministerial meeting took place in Argentina and the reports that followed that event indicated that there was a stalemate and no measurable benefits for small states.
That is very unfortunate given that these countries look to the WTO and the global trading space for opportunities to sell their goods and services in a liberalised world, which has been the emphasis the WTO has been pushing since its inception in the mid 1990s.
As such, there remains no major movement in that process of free and fair trade.
There are other major issues that the Caribbean countries are facing, as was the case last year and this year as well. As was pointed out in the Communiqué which followed the 2017 Intersessional Meeting in Georgetown, Correspondent Banking, energy security, food security, climate change, the vulnerability of our countries to disasters etc, demonstrate what our countries are up against. It is fair to say that Caribbean leaders are fully in tune with these events.
As a group, therefore, leaders need to come to terms with the changing world and try to chart a course to deal with that reality.