CARICOM SECRETARY GENERAL ON MISSION TO THE BAHAMAS

Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr Edwin Carrington will lead a delegation on a two-day Briefing Mission to The Bahamas, on 13-14 March 2003. During the mission the Secretary General and his team will meet with high-level government officials, the Opposition, The Bahamas Trade Commission (BTC) and the Bahamian public.

In preparation for Hemispheric, multilateral and bilateral trade agreements, Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Hon Perry Christie in 2002, launched a twenty-two member Commission to advise government on trade liberalisation and globalisation issues. The Commission’s main responsibility is to “review the various studies prepared on the impact of the various hemispheric and regional trade initiatives” on The Bahamas.

Critical among these studies is one conducted by Professor Bishnodat Persaud and Dr Michael Davenport on the Implications for the participation of The Bahamas in the CSME.

Earlier this year, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery held extensive consultations in The Bahamas with the BTC.

The Mission comes at a time when there are initiatives to deepen the integration process arising out of the recent 14th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Port of Spain.

“The Bahamas and indeed the Community as a whole feel that the time has come to further energise the Caribbean integration process and the role of The Bahamas in that process,” Mr Carrington said on the eve of his departure on the mission. “The Secretariat is only too happy to provide whatever advice, information and support that The Bahamian government and people require in this exercise,” he added.