The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is continuing to ensure that key stakeholders are well informed about the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and its significant benefits. On Thursday, July 21, the first of a series of one-day CSME sensitization workshops kicks off in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Approximately 35 participants from the private sector and rural communities will convene at the Beachcombers Hotel for information sharing and dialogue regarding the CSME. The activity is facilitated under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and Economic Integration Programme (EIP). 

Presentations will be made by resource persons from the CARICOM Secretariat and will include topics such as the current status of the CSME; the CSME as a platform for private sector growth and development; and facilitating agricultural trade and investment in the CSME. The presentations will be followed by dialogue sessions in which participants can share their experiences and clarify issues surrounding the CSME. At the end of the workshop, participants should have a better appreciation of the benefits of the CSME for their respective communities and how to take full advantage of them. The workshop will also be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Trade in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The series of workshops will continue in the coming months and are scheduled to take place in Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Suriname. This initiative forms part of a larger public education and awareness programme on the CSME in which certain stakeholder groups such as tertiary students, youth, teachers and the wider public are targeted.