(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Trade Ministers have been cautioned to pay attention to human and social matters and not to focus only on trade and economics. The charge was delivered on Thursday in Georgetown, at the Opening Ceremony of the Thirty-Third Meeting of the Council or Trade and Economic Development (COTED) by Senator the Honourable Maxine McClean, Chair of COTED and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados.

While she acknowledged that the Council’s mandate was to do exactly as its name implied: to promote the trade and economic development of the Community, she said that in doing so, the COTED had to be careful not to focus only on trade and economics in its strictest sense.

“I say this to underscore the point that measures to promote the economic development of the Community must take into consideration the human and social aspects of our Community.

“As important as providing affordable access to goods and services is to our people, issues such as climate change, youth empowerment, and the effects of non-communicable diseases on our respective populations, is equally important. These issues are thus not off limits to the COTED, but rather integral to our work,” Senator McClean said.

Her comments came a day after similar sentiments were expressed by His Excellency Sir Edwin Carrington, newly accredited Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to CARICOM, and former CARICOM Secretary-General, who was also at the Meeting in his new capacity.