TT puts stamp on CSME

So stated Prime Minister Patrick Manning as he delivered the feature address at the launch of the CSME stamp at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port-of-Spain yesterday. The stamp, which was launched by the Ministry of Public Utilities in collaboration with TTPost to commemorate the inauguration of the CSME, goes on sale from July 2.

Noting that CSME had its challenges, Manning assured that there were already significant safeguards to ensure that complying with the obligations of the regional market (CSM) alone would not result in difficulties for member states.

Manning said the CSME represented an indispensable step in ensuring the future survival, security and prosperity of the region.

“Trinidad and Tobago has only to gain. Our region has only to gain,” he said, adding that it was therefore incumbent on all in the region, particularly Caribbean governments, to take the necessary steps to consolidate this achievement.

He said while globalisation had produced unprecedented levels of growth, it had also increased inequality around the world. He noted there has been a widening gap between rich and poor nations, and between the expectations of the people of poorer countries and the capacity of these countries to provide for them. Manning said through the movement of capital and other resources, the CSME would provide the best hope for the reduction of poverty in the region. Manning said the launch of the stamp signalled the commitment of the Government to the regional single market and to the earliest advancement of the integration process to the CSM.

Public Utilities Minister Pennelope Beckles stated that CSME had to be seen as a genuine opportunity to prepare the region’s postal services for wider regional integration, including the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). She said while TTPost has been lauded internationally as a good example of postal sector modernisation, the postal service still had to speed up the transformation initatives in order to become viable and competitive. Beckles said TTPost had to pursue new business opportunities, products and services.