Like a thief at night

TRINIDAD and Tobago, the Caricom states and the Western Hemisphere are well advanced in the process of creating new multilateral trade and marketing arrangements that are likely to impact dynamically on all countries this side of the globe. We are referring, of course, to the establishment of the Caricom Single Market and Economy and the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement. While these movements relate essentially to economic relationships, it is inevitable that they will have not only an effect on our society, but also demand from our people a deeper understanding of the nature of the changes, the new challenges they impose and, perhaps most crucially, the attitude we must adopt towards them for our own survival. If, to begin with, there is one basic statement we can make about them it is this: Trinidad and Tobago, together with all the countries in the hemisphere, will be entering the brutally competitive arena of free trade which would require from us, if nothing else, a conscious effort at increasing productivity. The reality we must face is that the CSME and even more so the FTAA will be something of a two-edged sword. Mr Anthony Hosang, president of the TT Manufacturers’ Association, puts it this way: “If producers manufacture goods that can take advantage of the FTAA, we will enjoy tremendous opportunities.” “However, if our products fall short in any way, we are in danger of seeing our businesses disappear.” Although Trinidad and Tobago can boast of having the most industrialised economy in the Caribbean region, and although we have been enjoying the best of the Caricom arrangement, we can hardly be complacent in the face of these new challenges.

How the economy will eventually adjust is left to be seen but it seems logical to expect that companies and manufacturers, in the quest for higher levels of productivity, may have to rely more heavily on technology rather than labour. This enforced sophistication of the economy must raise the prospect of TT being saddled with an even larger segment of unskilled and virtually unemployable persons, a somewhat disturbing eventuality in light of the social conditions that may ensue when the CSME comes into operation. Up to now, none of the ardent proponents of the CSME has taken the trouble to explain to the country exactly what is involved in this evolutionary step. Leaders of the business community have been extolling the benefits which the private sector is expected to derive from this new arrangement, but the public at large remains quite ignorant of how the removal of all existing restrictions to the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour will impact upon them and the society as a whole. In particular, what does the free movement of labour mean? Will companies have the right to bring in workers from other countries of the Caribbean to work here? Will the CSME result in an influx of cheap labour into TT, aggravating the country’s unemployment problem and overloading its social services? It may be easy for us to understand and accept the absolutely free movement of goods and capital and even services among the countries of the region, but the free movement of labour? Maybe these fears are ill-founded, but the fact remains that nobody involved in the formation and implementation of these new arrangements is seeing the need to explain to the country at large exactly what is involved in these treaties and what should be the national response to them. Inspite of all the glowing rhetoric about their potential benefits, it seems the CSME and the FTAA will come upon us like a thief in the night.