Mark Titus, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says increasing trade and investment is a priority of the Jamaican Government, and will be a focus of his administration's development strategy.

"In that regard, the EPA (economic partnership agreement) can make a significant contribution, but as the deadlines draw near and the negotiations intensify, it is important that we reach an agreement that places development at its core, and takes account of the countries and people of the region," Golding said.

He was speaking at a special meeting of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) Heads of Government who are signatories to the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States-European Union (ACP-EU) Cotonou agreement in Montego Bay, St. James, yesterday.

The two-day meeting is taking place at a critical point of the negotiations between the 15 CARIFORUM countries of the 79-member ACP and the European Union, for an EPA that will result in liberalised access of goods and services from the European Union into the markets of CARIFORUM countries.

The meeting also allows the leaders to review the progress in the CARIFORUM-EU negotiations and discuss strategies for their talks with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Louis Michel, the EU Commissioner of Development and Humanitarian Aid, to try and resolve issues which could delay the completion of the negotiations in keeping with the agreed schedule of December 31.

Issues to be resolved

Some of these issues include the manner and pace of opening CARIFORUM markets to EU goods and services, the treatment of sugar and banana - commodities of interest to the region, government procurement, and services and investments.

The EU agreement for the incorporation of a meaningful development component in the EPA that will facilitate the transformation of the region's economies in the increasingly liberalised international trading environment will be top of the agenda for discussion.

CARIFORUM comprises the member states of the Caribbean Community, except Montserrat and the Dominican Republic.