Hoteliers want EPA to deliver on promised measures for tourism

President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), Josef Forstmayr, Monday said his organisation had been very supportive of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed between Europe and the Caribbean Forum countries because it supported the development of the region's tourism industry.

Addressing the annual Caribbean Tourism Summit (CTS) here, Forstmayr said the EPA also recognised "the need to provide capacity building to the Caribbean tourism industry to ensure that the industry continues to grow and prosper.

"It is a competitive world out there and Caribbean tourism needs to be innovative if it is to continue to act as the principal driver behind the region's economic growth."

He told delegates attending the first ever CTS in Europe that the EPA, signed in 2008, includes many welcome commitments to supporting the industry in practical ways, "such as developing and applying the highest Caribbean environmental standards in the tourism sector (and) providing training on the latest international best practice in hospitality".

He said the region also stood to benefit from the EPA "by supporting our marketing efforts and giving our hotels the necessary legal back-up to ensure that the whole supply chain is playing by the same rules.

"We're ready to play our part in shaping and delivering the programmes and capacity-building initiatives which were outlined in the EPA, and we are keen to progress with putting these programmes into place.

"After all, we are already half-way through the 10th EDF (European Development Fund) programming period. Inevitably, time was needed to evaluate and prioritise the different sectors which would be provided with funding support, but now must be the time to bring on-board the expertise and experience of the private sector and to start using the private sector to identify and deliver new programmes," he said.

Trade-related assistance

Forstmayr said the CHTA was also delighted that Caribbean Export has now been confirmed as the agency responsible for much of the trade-related assistance which will be delivered under the Regional Indicative Programme and that the CHTA was looking forward to deve-loping projects and programmes over the next weeks and months.

He told the summit that the funds managed by Caribbean Export, however, represented a small fraction of the total funds which the European Union had originally stated would be available for trade-related assistance through National Indicative Programmes, the remainder of the Regional Indicative Programme and the Aid-for-Trade programmes of European Union member states.

User-friendly handbook

"When will these remaining funds be made available to applicants? How much will be available to the tourism sector? What procedures will they need to follow? Is there a risk that EDF money will not even be allocated by 2013 and lost forever?" asked the CHTA president.

He said that with assistance from other stakeholders, the association has produced a user-friendly handbook which explains what the EPA means for Caribbean tourism and what types of support were pro-mised to the industry.

"We are also organising a series of workshops about the EPA for our members so that they can let us know directly where they see the EPA adding value to their businesses and where they need help," he added.

- CMC

… Regional journalists discuss barriers to implementation

Caribbean journalists have been told that there are a number of factors preventing regional countries from fully implementing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), nearly three years after it was signed between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum countries.

Addressing a two-day workshop for regional journalists on the accord that was signed in October 2008, Sonia Allyson Francis, Trade in Services & Investment Specialists of the EPA Implementation Unit of the Guyana-based Caribbean Commu-nity (CARICOM) Secretariat, said the absence of tax treaties, foreign exchange controls and language barriers were among the factors preventing the full implementation of the agreement.

She also listed ignorance of cultural norms, customs and values, and the cost of travel as some of the other challenges to the implementation of the EPA.

"Persons aren't able to key-in in terms of what are their actual development cooperation needs and that's why we have a delay in implementing the services and investment aspect of the agreement."

Priority markets

She said there is a need for the regional private sector to be able to understand the regulations if it needs to take advantage of the agreement and to know what are some of the priority markets in Europe.

Francis said that while the EPA Unit has expressed a willingness to do the necessary market research for regional businesses it has not received requests for such services.

But she said research has been done in a number of professional service areas such as architects, accounts, engineers and management consultants. These studies were conducted in European countries such as Malta, Estonia, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

"EPA should not be the ceiling. Our regional integration is the ceiling and EPA is anything else below," she said.

The two-day conference is one of two being conducted by the EPA Implementation Unit this week.

St Kitts and Nevis will host a regional workshop on the EPA for senior officers of the government information services from March 17-18.

"The workshops serve as important, novel platforms to sensitise media and GIS (government information services) stakeholders on EPA implementation, as the implementation process gains pace," said Branford Isaacs, adviser to the secretary general on the implementation of the EPA and head of the EPA Implementation Unit.

CARICOM officials said the workshops are designed to heighten awareness and understanding of the EPA as well as examine techniques for communication professionals to report on the accord.

- CMC

Caribbean journalists have been told that there are a number of factors preventing regional countries from fully implementing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), nearly three years after it was signed between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum countries.

Addressing a two-day workshop for regional journalists on the accord that was signed in October 2008, Sonia Allyson Francis, Trade in Services & Investment Specialists of the EPA Implementation Unit of the Guyana-based Caribbean Commu-nity (CARICOM) Secretariat, said the absence of tax treaties, foreign exchange controls and language barriers were among the factors preventing the full implementation of the agreement.

She also listed ignorance of cultural norms, customs and values, and the cost of travel as some of the other challenges to the implementation of the EPA.

"Persons aren't able to key-in in terms of what are their actual development cooperation needs and that's why we have a delay in implementing the services and investment aspect of the agreement."

Priority markets

She said there is a need for the regional private sector to be able to understand the regulations if it needs to take advantage of the agreement and to know what are some of the priority markets in Europe.

Francis said that while the EPA Unit has expressed a willingness to do the necessary market research for regional businesses, it has not received requests for such services.

But she said research has been done in a number of professional service areas such as architects, accountants, engineers and management consultants. These studies were conducted in European countries such as Malta, Estonia, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

"EPA should not be the ceiling. Our regional integration is the ceiling and EPA is anything else below," she said.

The two-day conference is one of two being conducted by the EPA Implementation Unit this week.

St Kitts and Nevis will host a regional workshop on the EPA for senior officers of the government information services from March 17-18.

"The workshops serve as important, novel platforms to sensitise media and GIS (government information services) stakeholders on EPA implementation, as the implementation process gains pace," said Branford Isaacs, adviser to the secretary general on the implementation of the EPA and head of the EPA Implementation Unit.

- CMC