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Caribbean Ready to Form Single
Market
Patrick Manning, president of
the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),
said on Thursday that conditions
are arranged for the region's
integration in a unique market
at the end of June.
"Topics related to the Regional
Development Fund have been
resolved, and the way is cleared
for the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States to form a
unique market this month,"
Manning pointed out.
Manning, also prime minister of
Trinidad & Tobago, said that the
main conflicts for operation of
the Fund were solved in a
three-day meeting in Barbados.
This is considered an
indispensable step for many
Caribbean countries for their
participation in the Caribbean
Unique Market.
The Regional Development Fund
was established to give
economic, financial or technical
support to countries, zones or
sectors at economic
disadvantage.
This week Trinidad & Tobago
committed to donate 29 million
dollars, nine million more than
announced at the beginning of
preparations for the Fund.
The Fund was officially opened
in January, with participation
of Barbados, Belize, Guyana,
Jamaica, Surinam and Trinidad &
Tobago, while Antigua & Barbuda,
Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis,
Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines will do so in
the next days.
Of the 15 CARICOM countries,
only Bahamas, Haiti and
Montserrat are temporarily
excluded from the regional
integration mechanism.
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