Outgoing Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, closed out her six-month tenure with a rallying cry for regional solidarity and action in the face of global uncertainty.
Speaking at the opening of the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where Caribbean leaders first met in 1947 to lay the foundations of regional integration, Prime Minister Mottley reflected on her journey from a “young romantic idealist” and “fervent believer of the regional integration movement” to a more seasoned, though still hopeful, advocate for CARICOM solidarity.
“Our Community has perhaps seen more challenges in these past seven years than at any time since independence,” she said. “But if ever there was a time for regional solidarity, it is absolutely now.”
Highlighting several achievements in trade and economic cooperation during her tenure, the Outgoing Chair said that CARICOM is now poised to finalise long-awaited revisions to the Common External Tariff (CET) and Rules of Origin, crucial trading instruments that protect regional industry while lowering the cost of essential goods for production.
Commending the Council for Trade and Economic Development and the Community Council for completing the work on these critical tools for intra-regional trade, she said now is the time for political decision on what items can see reduced tariff rates without undermining regional production.
Prime Minister Mottley also commended the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) for responding to the trade tensions stemming from U.S. actions on Chinese-made shipping vessels, including a 500-member strong participation in a Zoom discussion.
Through advocacy with the U.S. government involving CPSO and the CARICOM Secretariat, the Community secured a temporary stay of the imposition of fees exceeding US$1 million per US port call. This stay reduced the risk of trade and supply-chain disruption and increase inflation in the Region.
