CSME Aimed at Creating Wealth in the Region – Knight

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, K.D. Knight is urging CARICOM nationals to buy into the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, (CSME) noting that the single market was aimed at creating wealth in the region.
“The CSME is seeking to create one single economic space among CARICOM states with the free movement of goods, capital, labour, and services,” he said.He was speaking at the second in a series of Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC)-sponsored seminars on the topic, held yesterday (Nov.18) at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.
Stressing that the CSME was an important opportunity for the business sector, the Minister commended the two organizations for “staging the seminar to educate the public on the benefits to be gained from participation in this regional entity.”
“It is important that we work together in partnership especially the business sector, as they are the ones that will trade and it is an opportunity for them to become competitive in a wider environment,” he added.
In his address, Programme Co-ordinator, CSME Unit, Barbados, Mr. Ivor Caryll, stated that the CSME was “about making a living” and everyone will be affected. “There are opportunities to improve the quality of life progressively over time,” he added.
The CSME will create a market of some 6 million nationals of the region and embrace some 15 million consumers spread over 2,000 miles. This will generate the capacity for expansion of businesses in the territories. The Bahamas and Haiti are not members at this time.
The single market aspect is scheduled for implementation in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados on January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2006 in the other states. The Single Economy is slated for January 1, 2008.
The CSME is being implemented in the Caribbean territories to achieve sustained economic development based on international competitiveness, coordinated economic and foreign policies, functional cooperation and enhanced trade and economic relations.