The CARICOM Secretariat is pressing ahead with its public education programme regarding the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). It will be hosting a series of three (3) public sensitisation sessions on the facilitation of travel within the CSME. The first of these will be held in Dominica on Friday, September 9 and a wide cross-section of the public is expected to attend. These sessions are being facilitated by resource persons from the Secretariat and implemented with assistance provided under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). The other two (2) sessions will be held later in Guyana and Jamaica.

The public sensitization exercise will cover the provisions for free movement and travel under the CSME regimes such as those for CARICOM Skilled Nationals and the Right of Establishment, for example. The aim is to inform CARICOM citizens of their rights and responsibilities as they move within the CSME for reasons related to employment, leisure or business. Members of the public will also be apprised of the CARICOM Complaints Procedure if they feel that they were hindered from accessing their rights under any of the regimes. At the end of these sessions, participants should be better informed about the provisions for free movement and how to make use of them as CARICOM nationals.

The session will be held at the Goodwill Christian Union Church and officials from Dominica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be in attendance. This public awareness activity is part of a larger public education strategy to promote the CSME as an important platform for achieving the goal of regional integration and an improved quality of life for all citizens of the Caribbean Community.   

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Belizean Students get to meet with the Head of the Regional Development and Integration Section, Delegation of the EU to Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and for the Dutch Overseas Countries and Territories, Mr. Luca Pierantoni.

After a week of hard work visiting, analysing and interacting with both facilitators and receivers of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy experience, the students had some time to unwind and share their experiences and stories in a relaxing and encouraging atmosphere. 

Students of the Dominica State College (DSC), who recently returned from a Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) study tour in St. Lucia, have welcomed the regional initiative.

The group of nineteen ‘student ambassadors’ engaged both public and private sector on that island to observe and explore opportunities through regional integration.

“The whole idea of the visit was to expose them to the CSME arrangements with respect to a number of areas and most importantly we want them to understand that there are opportunities out there for them,” Dominica’s Ambassador to CARICOM, Felix Gregoire explained.

“We want them at a very early age to think of the bigger picture of regional integration movement,” the Ambassador continued.

The nineteen students, separated into four groups, looked at key pillars of regional integration including the free movement of people, goods, services, as well as the establishment of business and the free movement of capital.

Newspaper owners and editors from Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will come together to discuss issues related to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and regional integration at a major workshop in Trinidad and Tobago.

The two-day event is slated to begin on Monday, April 27 at the Carlton Savannah Hotel. Hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat with significant support from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), the aim of the workshop is to apprise participants of the latest developments regarding the CSME and how these can contribute to increasing business competitiveness across the region.

Training was conducted under the auspices of the CTCP under Component 100 and 300 (Information Flows).

Component 100 focuses on the standardization and harmonization of the Single Market administrative practices and Procedures while Information Flows is concerned with the strengthening of existing channels of Information Flows on the CSME.

Around 200 persons within the CARICOM region were trained to appropriately and accurately represent CARICOM and its goals and achievements in their day-to-day areas of concern.  The training focused on the following Territories:

• Jamaica
• Dominica