Finding answers to Caricom trade
Published:Friday | November 26, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
The 220 Jamaica Exporters' Association (JEA) mem-bers who do business with northern Caribbean countries are disappointed with returns from that market which, based on CARICOM figures, are expected to fall below last year's take of US$12 million, says recently re-elected president Vitus Evans.
"We're really looking to strengthen in that region; we should be doing better, based on the distance between our countries," Evans said.
Citing the leisure industry as one of the JEA's most profitable markets, Evans said he was concerned about trade with the Bahamas, traditionally one of the Caribbean's largest tourist locations.
Last year, Jamaica spent US$2.2 million on imports from that country, while exporting US$2.1 million worth of goods. Trade between the two territories has been lopsided in the first two quarters of this year, with The Bahamas providing US$10 million in exports compared to Jamaica's US$1.3 million.
The Cayman Islands, which bought US$7.2 million worth of Jamaica's output, was the most profitable export partner in the northern Caribbean last year. Belize, with US$3.3 million, was second, followed by The Bahamas.
Jamaica overall earned US$38.5 million from CARICOM exports in 2009, representing 2.9 per cent of the US$1.32 billion of total overseas sales that year.
Jamaica is but one example of the thin commerce among trading partners inside the Caricom bloc. The untapped market potential has pushed Jamaica National Building Society and its Cayman Islands subsidiary into convening the Northern Caribbean Conference on Economic Cooperation, the idea behind which is to identify and depose blockades to regional trade in order to drive business.
The JEA has no immediate answers on how to leverage its members' geographic advantage, and is weighing whether participation in the December 17 economic forum in Grand Cayman could be the turning point.
"We haven't made a decision as yet, but it's something we are definitely looking at," Evans said.
More than 100 participants - including academics, politicians, including current and former prime ministers, and business people - from The Bahamas, Cayman, Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico have confirmed their participation.
Dunbar McFarlane, general manager of the National Building Society of Cayman, said Tuesday at the announcement of the conference that unfettered move-ment by citizens throughout the region is bound to be a major topic, especially for tourism interests and exporters.
The northern Caribbean is the recipient market for approximately 70 per cent of tourists to the region.
McFarlane stressed the impor-tance of lifting travel restrictions on citizens of The Cayman Islands, Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica who require visas to enter their respective countries. He said the matter is particularly sensitive to The Cayman Islands, where the economy is dependent on overseas labour.
"When we look at the issue of trade and access to regional markets, we realise that the northern Caribbean is home to the majority of the people residing in the Caribbean," McFarlane said.