Change, left, and Jordan
Donna Ortega, News Editor
THE Jamaican private sector is being warned to prepare for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), if it does not want to risk being left behind. The warning came from USAID director Mosina Jordan as she addressed the Power Breakfast Meeting of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) at the United States Embassy Auditorium, on Oxford Road, New Kingston, on Wednesday.
"If CARICOM is not ready it will be left behind and among the losers will be you here in this room. When the train leaves the track, you're lost if you're not ready," Ms. Jordan said.
It was a warning to be heeded, Chamber president Anthony Chang told his colleagues. The Chamber saw a need to educate business groups on the FTAA and would be setting up a programme to demystify the FTAA. The JCC had been in discussion with JAMPRO and he said he was aware that the programme was late but it was "important to start now".
Mr. Chang said he was concerned about the low level of awareness among businesspersons about the FTAA for there was still much to learn. "The devil is in the details," he said.
During the December 1994 Miami Summit of the Americas, the Heads of State of 34 democracies in the region agreed to build upon existing trade pacts and construct a "Free Trade Area of the Americas" and complete negotiations for the agreement by 2005. The leaders also made a commitment to achieve substantial progress toward building the FTAA by year 2000.
Ms. Jordan reminded her audience that private sector input is being solicited and utilised for trade negotiations in the U.S. and other countries in the hemisphere.
The Jamaican private sector has to ensure that its voice is heard, that its views are represented in these negotiations, she told them. "There is no reason why the private sector in Jamaica cannot have the same level of participation that has been accomplished in other countries in the hemisphere," she said.
There are existing mechanisms (such as the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Conference Board) in place to assist in this effort and Ms. Jordan challenged the Chamber to find other creative mechanisms to open the dialogue to ensure adequate public-private discussions and ventilation of the issues. She pledged USAID's financial support to those mechanisms.
Ms. Jordan said that the countries that do best during trade negotiations are those whose public and private sectors present a united front which indicates to others that issues have been thoroughly vetted internally before a trade negotiation begins.
"We all know that it is the private sector and not Government that trades with other nations and thus will be the most impacted by any trade agreement. One of the first things that the private sector will need to do if they want to become more engaged with the FTAA process is obtain the latest information on the ongoing process, carefully analyse it and develop a plan of action," she said.
Ms. Jordan observed that it is only a matter of time before an FTAA goes into effect and "this could be before the agreed upon 2005 date. So it was important for the private sector to prepare itself for this inevitability.
"This is a good time for Jamaica to get ahead of the curve, determine where it can best compete in the new world economy and establish its presence in these areas," she stressed.
In order for Jamaica to forge ahead, three things were necessary, she said:
The Jamaican private sector needs to keep in touch with other private sector groups in the hemisphere to exchange ideas.A consortium composed of business, labour and civil society is essential to identify common ground and the priority areas for engaging with the Government and to be a real partner in the FTAA.The CARICOM Secretariat needs to be encouraged to finalise the agreement on the CARICOM single market."We stand ready to help stimulate the growth of this economy so that all Jamaica can benefit," she said.
