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

The Core purpose of the CTCP is to provide support and resources to 12 Member States as part of their ongoing efforts to further implement and operationalize the Single Market. The Project focuses on the following technical areas:

1. the standardization and harmonization of administrative practices and procedures which will be implemented via administrative and legislative reform in all the participating Member States;
2. Enhancing the effective functioning of the services and labour markets through standardised licensing and certification through the Implementation of National Work Plans for Member States to Award the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ);
3. Widening the scope of participation by stakeholders and beneficiaries in the process of decision-making, implementation and operation of the Single Market. This will be done by Implementing new strategies for dissemination of specific information to all stakeholders about how to access and utilise the various opportunities which are available within the CSME;
4. Gender and environment sensitive monitoring through the development of gender indicators and development of a Draft Regional Policy on the Environment.

Expected Impacts

1. Increased compliance by Member States with commitments as enshrined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas or decisions taken by Community Organs;
2. Reformed Administrative rules, systems and procedures for the five Single Market regimes;
3. Individuals and entities which are entitled to benefits or rights under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas processed and otherwise facilitated;
4. Regional and Member States’ administrative and regulatory practices, and environmental and gender objectives integrated into the CSME operating arrangements where appropriate;
5. Full and free access to labour and services markets within the Region by wage and non-wage earners in professions requiring licencing and certification (Caribbean Vocational Qualification infrastructure) facilitated;
6. Increased understanding and greater participation in implementation and decision-making processes of the CSME by non-state actors in the Region.

Successful implementation of the CTCP will lead to a more efficient operation of the CSME. The CTCP provides targeted support to Member States to improve CSME Compliance (legislative, administrative and institutional). The Project and its deliverables also communicate to the CSME population that dedicated efforts are on-going in making the CSME more accessible and more user friendly.

The following will be in place at the end of the Project:

• Improved compliance with obligations set out in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The Project provides assistance to remedy incompliance occurrences in Member States at the legislative, administrative and institutional level;
• The transformation of systems, procedures and practices by harmonising and standardising the administrative practices and procedures through the implementation of best practices in all the participating Member States.. These will be implemented through the implementation of 16 best practices in each member States;
• Improved access to the rights under the Revised Treaty including contribution to solving the problem of business facilitation by addressing some of the efficiency and access related constrained faced by the private sector as they conduct their business cross border in the region;
• Improved data capturing mechanism for the capturing of data on the Single Market Regimes through the establishment of a Document and Workflow Management System at the Regional level and assistance to Member States for data capturing;
• The strengthening of capabilities of CARICOM Nationals to enter the services and labour Markets through the establishment of CVQ infrastructure in the Member States;
• Improved channels for the dissemination of information to different stakeholders;
• A Regional Draft Policy on the environment; and
• Gender indicators for monitoring.