Robert Hart, Staff Reporter
CASTRIES, St. Lucia:
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson said yesterday that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was greatly concerned that the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations have stalled.
He said that at the upcoming Summit of the Americas, slated to be held in Argentina next November, CARICOM will point out that there is no indication that the economic and social strengthening of developing nations has been taken into consideration in FTAA negotiations so far.
"We will be going to Argentina, unfortunately to have to remind those who were not there in Miami, that these are the things that we set out to achieve and we have to get back on track," Mr. Patterson told journalists during a press briefing on the third day of the 26th meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government at the Sandals Grande Hotel, in Gros Islet, St. Lucia.
According to Mr. Patterson, the FTAA by itself will be at some cost to small vulnerable economies and there must be adequate transitional arrangements and special protection as well as secure prospects for advancement in economic growth and social upliftment. This, he said, would allow those nations to become meaningful partners and engage in the real benefits of the hemispheric cooperation sought.
ECONOMIC GROUPING
The FTAA is intended to be an economic grouping stretching from North America to South America including Central America and the Caribbean. It will represent a market of 700 million people.
The Prime Minister said that during the first Summit of the Americas in Miami in 1994, the free trade agreement was not regarded as a stand-alone arrangement. It was expected to make up part of an arrangement that would promote economic and social development for all nations in the hemisphere.
The FTAA agreement was also expected to be brought into force by this year.
He said that it was very clear that a final negotiated agreement would not be ready for the meeting to be held in Argentina in November.
Mr. Patterson on Monday presented a report to CARICOM leaders in his capacity as lead head of government with responsibility for external economic negotiations.
