Valley: Region’s future hinges on vibrant Single Market and Economy

TRADE Minister Ken Valley said the future of the region and its people hinges on the establishment of a vibrant Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). He said alternatives to a “failed” Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) are being explored. Addressing the launch of the CSME at the Crowne Plaza yesterday, Minister Valley declared: “The future of the countries in the region, and of the people, depend on a strong and vibrant CSME. “To this end, Trinidad and Tobago is walking the talk. Through Caricom, TT has committed a $100 million revolving loan to assist firms in the region in increasing their competitiveness.”

Listing the global realities which determine international trade and investment, Valley said the CSME would provide a seemingly endless economic space for regional business people to operate within. He said its objectives lay at the heart of what Caricom was trying to achieve at the level of the FTAA, the World Trade Organisation and Cotonou, and the primary objective was to put the interests of Caricom nationals first. The Minister said even though the FTAA process has stalled, the CSME was going “full throttle” and “options to a failed FTAA are already being investigated.” In a recent interview, Valley identified one of those options as the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Association of Caribbean States.

He said he believed the FTAA would be implemented on a phased basis. The Minister expressed confidence that TT would be CSME ready by the end of 2004 and hinted that the next logical step was regional political integration. Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his St Vincent and the Grenadines counterpart, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, have expressed support for this initiative. Other regional leaders, including Jamaican PM PJ Patterson and Barbados PM Owen Arthur, have expressed skepticism about regional political integration.