Canada is pushing for a fresh round of free trade negotiations with Guyana and other countries in the region as it seeks to ink a new agreement in the Caribbean, according to Canadian High Commissioner, Charles Court.
Interest in strengthening relations with the region had been communicated a while now Court said, but talks have been put on hold to facilitate signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and Cariforum countries.
He said Canada is expected to hold talks with Caricom shortly on the new agreement to replace Caribcan, pointing out that some amount of technical discussions on the issue has been ongoing. Court, who emphasized the need for high level dialogue to be sustained between Canada and the regional body, was at the time delivering the feature address at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Annual Awards Dinner at the Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday.
With a substantial amount of money already invested in the region, he said, a new agreement offers scope for increased economic activity between Canada and the Caribbean, and mutual benefits. Specifically, he said funds would be pumped into the region to supplement the more than $600M Canadian dollars that had been identified for regional development projects over a five-year period.
Regional development is high on Canada’s economic agenda for the Caribbean, according to Court. But there are challenges within the region, which he said, would be considered as Canada moves in the direction of increased collaboration. Court named among the challenges a dependency on limited sectors, debt burdens, instability in some cases and “regrettably some amount of violence”.
He however stressed that Canada intends to deepen its relations with the region through Caricom, and that its focus is also on fostering economic and political integration and promoting regional hemispheric security among other areas.
Court also addressed the issue of how the global economic meltdown has impacted negatively on some Canadian sectors, particularly mining. He said that the blows suffered by some industries in the country trickles down to Guyana and other Caribbean countries, noting that there have already been reports of a significant reduction in money transfers.
He noted that Canada’s banking sector was able to survive the global crisis due to strict measures that are in place, adding that generally the banks there are conservative.
Meanwhile President of the GCCI, Chandradat Chintamani, in his brief address pointed to challenges facing local businesses, underscoring the importance of changes at the Customs and Trade Administration that will facilitate the smooth clearance of goods entering the country. He noted too that the rising electricity cost continues to pose serious challenges to businesses, adding that the time has come for a revision of the current rates.
Further, he spoke of the absence of some key services in the local business sector pointing out that information technology is one area that can be boosted. Chintamani also mentioned the GCCI’s strategic plan which was launched this year noting that they were working on implementing the measures outlined.
Several awards were handed out at the GCCI dinner. The young business achievement award went to Trade Link; the social development award went to Denmor Garment Factory; Austin’s Book Services was awarded the customer service prize; the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) was awarded for its excellence in public service; National Hardware was awarded the GCCI President’s prize and Raj Singh Insurance Brokers and Risk Management Consul Inc. received the award for business of the year.
