The CARICOM Secretariat is receiving technical assistance valued at over half a million US dollars from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Public Education on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). The assistance package is channeled through the USAID Caribbean Trade and Competitiveness Development Programme C-TRADECOM.

The funds are being used to support the second phase of a public education project, which began earlier this year. The CARICOM Secretariat and C-TRADECOM are collaborating on executing public awareness activities, which include a media blitz using messages previously developed. Other elements involve community activities and creating promotional materials.

A Project Manager has been recruited to manage the activities throughout the project period, which ends in February 2005.

The USAID supported project falls within the broad CSME Public Education Programme being executed by the CARICOM Secretariat's CSME Unit in Barbados. This programme is critical to the success of the regional integration process as CARICOM Member States are expected to be CSME ready in 2005. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are scheduled to be CSME ready at the end of 2004.