Mathurin: Region must be equipped to protect interests

WITH the region receiving over US$6 billion worth of foreign direct investment in 2014, there is the view that any future liberalisation which Member States undertake, must be aligned to national and regional core developmental objectives. So says Director-General CARICOM Secretariat’s Office of Trade Negotiations Ambassador, Gail Mathurin, who was speaking during the opening ceremony of a workshop for CARICOM trade officials on the TISA negotiations and the Negative List approach, at the Courtyard Marriott on Wednesday morning.

 

The three day workshop will assess its implications for Barbados and undertake an in depth review and application of the Negative List Approach to the scheduling of Services and Investment commitments.

 

In the negative list agreement, countries specifically list which products or services they will maintain trade barriers on. If a product is not listed, no restrictions exist and the product is subject to be traded openly.

 

The Director-General assured participants that the capacity building programme with respect to the services and investment liberalisation has not be embarked upon in a vacuum, recognising that trade in services and investment are extremely vital components of 

economic activity in CARICOM Member States.

 

With CARICOM maintaining a healthy surplus with respect to the balance of international trade in services, Mathurin noted that in the majority of the region’s economies, the services sector comprises the bulk of economic activity, representing well over three-quarters of Gross Domestic Product in several instances. She stressed that the flows of FDI to the region are essential to its economic well-being, especially for a region that is a net seeker of FDI, which she noted accounts for between four and ten per cent of the GDP of CARICOM Member States.Ambassador Mathurin also stated that the private sector must also be engaged in the discussions on the TISA negotiations and the Negative List approach to services and investment liberalisation. (JH)