Dominica: The Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) and the European Commission (EC) on Wednesday signed three financial agreements designed to boost the Caribbean Region’s ability to deliver tangible results of integration to its populace, according to a Dominica News Online report.
With a total value of Euro $82.6M (US$110M), the financing agreements provide EC support for, among other things, the economic integration and trade of the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); the further development of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), with special allocations for Belize and Haiti; and CARIFORUM’s implementation commitments under the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the DNO said.
Advancing the OECS Economic Union, particularly in the areas of harmonized policies in tourism and agriculture; strengthening its capacity to integrate into the wider CARICOM arrangements and boosting competitiveness and export capacity of the private sector, are the key elements of the Euro 8.6M agreement that will be implemented by the OECS Secretariat. The CSME-related Programme, worth Euro 28M, will lend support to develop areas of government procurement, labour market information systems and e-commerce. It will also place emphasis on transferring social security benefits, and building capacity in statistics, among other areas. Funds have been set aside under this agreement to support Belize and Haiti to be better placed ot take advantage of the CSME, as well as to assist other CARICOM Member states to bridge the implementation gap, the DNO reported.
The third agreement provides Euro 46.5M to boost CARIFORUM’s capacity to take full advantage of the provisions of the EPA and to honour its commitments therein. The programme provides support for fiscal reform and adjustment; sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures; services; the rum sector and (removing) technical barriers to trade, the DNO stated.
Prior to affixing his signature to the agreements, Secretary-General of CARIFORUM, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, said that the EU support to the Region came at a time when Heads of Government had declared their determination to ensure that the benefits of integration were felt by the people.
The DNO report said that while the signature of the agreements signalled a beginning, the Secretary-General cautioned that the end product would have no meaning if the people of the Region did not feel the impact of the resources.
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