Economic cooperation conference expected to complement CARICOM

The Northern Caribbean Conference on Economic Cooperation (NCCEC) will complement the Caribbean Com-munity (CARICOM) and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), Professor Brian Meeks of The University of the West Indies (UWI) declared last Friday as he summed up the historic one-day consultation in Grand Cayman.

Meeks was addressing the more than 160 heads of state, government ministers, and members of the private sector and academia, representing most of the seven countries in the subregion attending the event at The Ritz-Carlton hotel in George Town.

His summation represented the content from two plenary sessions, a luncheon presentation, and three panel discussions, which highlighted the main conference issues of trade, immigration, education, security, and climate change.

The UWI professor said there was consensus on the timeliness and importance of the conference, described as a "potential game changer", based on history, family, geography and shared economic and political concerns.

Emphasising that the NCCEC should not be seen as a competitor, but as a complement to CARICOM and the CSME, Meeks highlighted areas for potential cooperation.

"In the area of climate change, there is need for community research, and common policies to address sea level rise and greenhouse gas emissions," he noted, "while the Puerto Rican Lt Governor (Kenneth) McClintock's proposal of a common Caribbean electricity grid is deserving of urgent study and consideration."

Need to reach out to haiti

On the subject of Haiti, Meeks said, "The failure of Haiti as a state would have severe impact on the entire Northern Caribbean, therefore, we should have measures to resuscitate the country, as improvement of its capacity will benefit all."

He also spoke to the rebuilding of Haiti, "which is the largest single capital project that we can foresee for the Caribbean in the immediate future. It will happen in some way or form, and it has the potential to generate jobs throughout the subregion."

In addition, he noted that "a prosperous Haiti is a huge market for goods and services for the entire region and Haitian themselves."

As conference rapporteur, Meeks stated that additional critical areas are tourism, immigration, education, and security. He also noted that the way forward should include a commission consisting of public, private and academic representation, with full participation from the subregion; and the commission would fine-tune a list of areas for cooperation, as well as identify achievable objectives.

Meeks reasoned that further themes for consideration should include a strategy on sports and culture; and language as communication and commerce. In addition, he highlighted the suggestion by P.J. Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica, that "the Caribbean Sea should be regarded as a resource and an environmental concern".

Among the conference speakers were McKeeva Bush, premier of The Cayman Islands; Bruce Golding, prime minister of Jamaica; McClintock, who is also secretary of state for Puerto Rico; Patterson, who is also special CARICOM representative for Haiti; and Professor Gordon Shirley, pro-vice-chancellor and principal of the UWI, Mona.

In his overview of the conference, Earl Jarrett, general manager of Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), pointed out that the meeting was being "documented by our partner, The University of the West Indies, to craft the outcomes into a set of objectives and plans that the commission will seek to implement over the next year".

Participants were generally positive to the ideas put forward at the conference, organised by JNBS, in concert with its subsidiary, The National Building Society of Cayman, and the UWI.