RNM-AGCI Collaborate in Trade Seminar

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – In an historic collaboration with the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), the International Cooperation Agency of Chile (AGCI) has coordinated and arranged the delivery of a ‘CARICOM Regional Training Seminar’ to be convened in Montego Bay, Jamaica, October 20 to 23. The Seminar is entitled: “International Negotiations, Free Trade Agreements and its Impact in Export Promotion: The Chilean Experience”. The four-day training will be attended by senior officials from CARICOM member states and the CARICOM and OECS secretariats, as well as trade specialists from the RNM. The objective of the seminar is to immerse participants in the technical and policy aspects of commercial/trade policy and the negotiation of trade agreements. According to RNM Director-General, Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, who will lead the RNM delegation at the Seminar, “the training opportunity, under the stewardship of Chilean technical experts and negotiators, will allow Caribbean negotiators and technocrats to learn from the experience of Chile. The Chilean experience is pertinent because of its involvement in numerous regional and bilateral free trade agreements. Chile has been a lead participant in Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. There are important lessons for the region’s trade officials to draw from Chile’s considerable experience in trade policy and negotiation, in what are complex and ever evolving areas of external trade”. The Seminar was conceptualized some months ago in an initial meeting between Ambassador Bernal and the Ambassador of Chile to Jamaica, and refined in subsequent discussions between RNM Director of Technical Cooperation and Partnerships, Dr. Deryck Brown, and AGCI officials. Remarking on the importance of the upcoming Seminar, Dr. Brown underscored that “apart from refining and deepening participants knowledge and expertise, the seminar provides a one of a kind opportunity for spearheading a process of exchange-ofviews and perspectives, sharing of ‘best practices’ and strengthening of relations between Chile and the CARICOM region”. Technical and financial assistance in the delivery of the Regional Seminar has been made possible by the AGCI, the General Directorate of Economic Relationships from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (DIRECON) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), under the frame of the ‘Japan-Chile Partnership Programme’ (JCPP). --------------------------------------------------------------------- For More Information Contact: Nand C. Bardouille Tel: (246) 430-1678 email: nand.bardouille@crnm.org