GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC:
CARIB COMMUNITY (CARICOM) governments have agreed on a new date and location for the ceremony marking the compliance by three Caribbean states regarding the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the CARICOM Secretariat announced yesterday.
Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have indicated their willingness to proceed with the CSME, which is characterised by the free movement of skills, labour, goods and services across the region.
The three countries had originally set January 5 as the date signing the agreement relating to the CSME, but the statement said the ceremony has been rescheduled to coincide with the February 19 inauguration of the new CARICOM headquarters building at Liliendaal, in Guyana.
SIGNING CEREMONY
CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington said the new date would give greater focus to the important signing ceremony as it will make possible the attendance of all regional leaders and delegations participating in the February 16-17 Sixteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting in neighbouring Suriname.
"The proximity of the venues for the Inter-Sessional Meeting and the inauguration of the new CARICOM headquarters building provides us with an ideal opportunity for all Member States to be part of this historic event that will see Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago paving the way for the full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market at the end of 2005," Carrington said.
He noted that all three prime ministers were in full agreement on the benefits of the new date and location, "cognisant too of the significance of depositing their Single Market compliance Instruments at the permanent headquarters of the Community".
The new G$1.5 billion (US$7.5 million) CARICOM Secretariat headquarters is a gift from Guyana to the Community, with funding provided through loans from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and support from the Japanese Government grant aid programme.
