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.   

Download Press Release here.

Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRoque, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in June. The MOU allows CARICOM Member States to utilise ‘.Stat’, a software tool, for the facilitation of labour market analysis and other related functions. The MOU was signed at the CARICOM Secretariat’s headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana. 

‘.Stat’ was developed by a community of experts under the leadership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The ILO, which is a member of the .Stat community, presented the software at a regional consultation hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat in October 2015. This was attended by representatives of Ministries of Labour, Statistics departments and Social Security agencies from the Member States. Coming out of subsequent meetings with Member States, it was agreed that this software tool was appropriate to facilitate the setting up of a CARICOM Labour Market Information System (LMIS). Apart from facilitating labour market analysis,
the software tool allows for the monitoring and reporting on policies as well as information sharing and coordination.

Full Press Release here:  CARICOM and ILO Sign Significant MOU

One of the major aims of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is to stimulate economic growth and competitiveness by facilitating intra-regional commercial activity. An important project being executed by the CSME Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat will make this increasingly possible. On Monday, the Secretariat hosts a 2-day regional consultation in Trinidad and Tobago on the development of a framework policy on establishing a single jurisdiction within the CSME. Having a single jurisdiction means that once a company is registered in one Member State, it is deemed to be registered in all participating Member States in the CSME. This would save the company time and financial costs associated with the registration process.

Full Press Release here:  CARICOM Making Cross-Border Business Easier

Chairman of the CARICOM Commission on the Economy, Barbados Senator Darcy Boyce says it does CARICOM Member States no good when concessionary funds are allowed to go to waste. Mr. Boyce who is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office was delivering the feature address on Friday at a CARICOM Regional Technical Meeting on the Implementation of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) CSME and Economic Integration Programme. Senator Boyce said that CARICOM economies have struggled over the last ten years and there is a tremendous amount of work to be done to overcome such hurdles.

Full Press Release here:  PR__2016: Chairman of the CARICOM Commission on the Economy advises Member States to take advantage of available concessionary funds

Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Eastern Caribbean Countries, OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, Ambassador Mikael Barfod said Friday was a difficult day to work out what the British exit from the European Union means and what effect it will have on the well-being of all the citizens of the European Union. He also stated that there could be some consequences for the Caribbean too, such as renegotiations of trade deals with the United Kingdom (UK). Ambassador Barfod noted that the UK is a major trading partner for many CARICOM Member States.

Full Press Release here:  PR892016 - Cooperation and Integration still important – European Union Ambassador