Chair of Caricom Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne (left), Caricom Chair Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie and Prime Minister of Barbados Freundel Stuart at post-summit press briefing
KINGSTON, Jamaica (BGIS) — There is a pressing need for the relationship between CARICOM and the United States to be revisited, with a view to making the desired benefits for the people more concrete.
Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart expressed this view recently during the one-day CARICOM-US Summit in Jamaica, which was attended by US President Barack Obama.
Stuart noted that there was a need for a much more structured partnership upon which the heads of government of CARICOM and the US must urgently embark.
While speaking on the topic of Competitiveness/Prosperity, Stuart noted that being competitive was not alien to the region’s experience or challenging to its capacities. He continued: “Indeed, whenever the playing field has been level and the rules have been fairly applied, the people of the Caribbean have shown the extent of their abilities and the measure of their daring…
“When we engage you therefore, it is not as elegant nuisances, or angry and dejected suppliants ringing the doorbell or banging on the door of the United States of America. We engage you as people who have a view of the world, based on our experiences, from which we think that your country and others over which it has influence can benefit.
“We compete effectively when the playing field is level, but when it is not, our people reserve the right to make their concerns known and to advocate for a more sensitive and a more rational reordering of the world’s business.”
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