A development in Africa’s EPA negotiations with Europe could benefit the Caribbean
Almost unnoticed, a development has occurred in Africa’s negotiations for their Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with Europe that could result in increased levels of foreign investment in the Caribbean and Overseas Territories. Although the Caribbean agreed its EPA with Europe at the end of 2007, not one full agreement with the regions of Africa and [...]
If Caricom cannot make the integration process work then the outside world will place more emphasis on bilateral relations
Could a moment come when the Caribbean’s partners in Europe and North America reconsider the way they relate to the region? Might the Caribbean’s inability to make the regional integration process work, lead to more emphasis being placed on bilateral or sub-regional relations, with the focus being on those nations and Caribbean institutions that deliver? [...]
Caribbean governments should be more aware of the value of national branding
The year 2012 will be an important one for the Carib-bean. It is the year when both Jamai-ca and Trinidad celebrate fifty years of independence and the one in which the Caribbean is expected to demonstrate at the London Olympics its spirit and success. These events are important in themselves, but offer too an opportunity [...]
A welcome announcement – with a sting in the tail
On March 24, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, made a long awaited announcement about the future of Britain’s controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD), the discriminatory tax that charges those travelling out of the UK more to fly to the Caribbean than to the west coast of the United States. Although he offered no [...]
European thinking is evolving and the Caribbean should engage now
How well does the Caribbean relate to the European Union? A region that still sees Europe as the source of development assistance, has not fully erased a belief in special arrangements for commodities and is dubious about the value of the Economic Partnership Agreement, there seems little awareness of the ways in which Europe is [...]
Could the Caribbean be priced out of the low to middle end of the European tourism market?
A soil and food prices continue to rise and further levies are introduced on travel, could the Caribbean be priced out of the low to middle end of the European tourism market? This alarming prospect may be closer at hand than the region would wish if the situation in the Middle East was to deteriorate [...]
Public-private partnerships are lacking in much of the Caribbean
Few people in the English speaking Caribbean will know the name of Felipe Vicini, the Executive President of Grupo Vicini, the Dominican Republic conglomerate that is engaged in everything from energy to agriculture. Yet his recent joint venture announcement contains important messages for the whole of Cariforum as it makes clear that the region can [...]
Caribbean tourism should be on the agenda at every regional and external event
As this is being written the United Kingdom Government is preparing to launch a national tourism policy. Its objective will be to recognise the central importance of tourism to Britain’s future economic development. In what was believed to have been the first speech on tourism ever by a British prime minister, Mr Cameron argued last [...]
A Chinese model of moderate prosperity and development
A decade or more ago it would have been hard to find much that was tangible to write about China and the Caribbean. Today it is difficult to know where to begin, so pervasive and economically vital has its role become in the region. From an approach originally driven by Beijing’s one China policy and [...]
‘Disunity will cause West Indian people to lose their identity’
Caribbean governments were, they suggested, looking at significantly cutting the regional secretariat’s budget and this would mean the loss of key staff. Worse, Caricom was at or near its financial limits and governments that normally supported its cash flow in times of difficulty were seeking a reduction in their contribution Over the last few weeks [...]
The end of the BBC Caribbean Service reflects British disinterest in the region
On January 25 the BBC World Service announced that as part of a new funding arrangement with the British Government it will be cutting the broadcaster’s budget by 16 per cent or by around US$73 (£46M) per annum. In doing so it will be significantly reducing the numbers it employs and cutting the range of [...]
The Caribbean community in the UK has to make its voice heard on the airline ticket tax
Although the Caribbean is making headway in arguing its case for a change in the level at which the UK’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) is charged, the issue still has some way to go politically. As matters now stand, it appears that the British Government
Haiti’s capacity to choose its own path appears to be diminishing
Trying to understand what is happening to the billions of dollars donated by private individuals and governments for post earthquake relief in Haiti is far from easy. So much so that one year on, it is hard not to conclude, as hundreds of thousands of Haitians struggle to survive, that many of those involved in [...]
The fear is it may be too late for change
Some time this year, Caribbean heads of government will appoint a new Caricom Secretary General. Their choice will demonstrate how strong or weak an institution they require and whether they want change. As matters stand there are a relatively small number of names under consideration to succeed Sir Edwin Carrington, but none it would seem [...]
The prospect of an all-embracing trade deal is some time away
Will 2011 be the year that the languishing Doha development round finally moves forwards; or will it mark the point at which the members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) quietly accept that negotiating a single global undertaking on trade liberalisation is unlikely in the foreseeable future? For almost a decade, multilateral trade negotiations