Representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat held discussions with insurance companies on Friday, 4 April 2025, as the Region continues to advance preparations for a regional ferry service.

Dr. Wendell Samuel, Assistant Secretary-General (ag), Economic Integration, Innovation and Development, led the CARICOM team which included Amb. David Prendergast, Director, Sectoral Services, and Dr. Pauline Yearwood, Deputy Programme Manager, Transportation.

The team of representatives from 10 Guyana-based insurance companies - several of which have offices in other CARICOM Member States - provided insights into the cross-border facilities they offer, and the insurance procedures and legal requirements that must be undertaken for the smooth functioning of the inter-regional ferry service.

The meeting was held as part of the CARICOM Secretariat’s discussions with key stakeholders in the insurance sector to support an inter-governmental working group on transportation, which was established at the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in Barbados in February. The working group is led by the Hon. Dr Amery Browne, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, and includes ministers from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Its mandate is to identify the steps towards mutual recognition of drivers’ licences, insurance products, harmonising customs and phyto-sanitary regulations, and removing non-tariff barriers for the smooth intra-regional movement of goods.

Friday’s meeting was the second engagement with the insurance sector since the Heads of Government Meeting. On 28 February, Dr. Armstrong Alexis, Deputy Secretary-General, led the engagement with Mr. Yogindra Arjune, Managing Director of Assuria N.V. (Guyana) and President of the Insurance Association of Guyana, to explore the regional insurance landscape and to identify areas for immediate action.