by Kari Grenade, PhD, Caribbean Economist and Macroeconomic Advisor
The 44th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom was held from 15-17 February 2023 in The Bahamas.
Based on the Communique, several issues were addressed including climate change/climate finance; food security; debt relief for Caricom Member States; crime and security; the current socio-economic and political instability in Haiti; and the 50th Anniversary of Caricom to be celebrated later this year. The Communique can be accessed here.
The Heads of Government received updates on ongoing initiatives geared at supporting the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) specifically and advancing the region’s sustainable development generally. Some of the noteworthy initiatives with respect to the CSME include the Draft Policy on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and the Draft Policy on a Regional Capital Market. According to the Communique, the consultations and processes within Member States will be undertaken to allow the draft M&A policy to be approved by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in April 2023. Regarding the draft policy on a regional capital market, necessary actions are to be taken by Member States to ensure that the infrastructure for the regional capital market is “largely in place within 18 months.”
On the broader issue of the region’s sustainable development, the important issues of advancing Caricom’s food and nutrition security agenda, as well as strengthening the region’s public health systems and its pandemic preparedness, were discussed. On the former, the Heads of Government accepted a pledge of US$2M from Guyana towards financing and implementing a project proposed by the Government of Guyana, entitled “Building Food Security through Innovation, Resilience, Sustainability and Empowerment.” On the latter, the Communique notes that the Heads of Government welcomed the establishment of a Pandemic Fund by the World Bank, which is aimed at financing investments to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels in low and middle-income countries.
Importantly, the Heads of Government also received an update on the Bridgetown Initiative, which is a proposal of the Government of Barbados for, among other objectives, reforming the global financial architecture to improve the functioning of the global financial system to allow it to better respond to the existential threats facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other developing countries. The Communique indicates that a global Summit on a “New Global Financial Pact” has been proposed by the Prime Minister of Barbados and the President of France to be held in Paris in June 2023.
Indeed, these are all welcomed developments, though more details would have been useful. Surprisingly, the Communique is silent on crucially important and pressing issues for Caricom, including proposals and solution options to promote gender equality, youth deployment and empowerment, and widespread digitisation and innovation.
Even more surprising is the one sentence that is devoted to intra-regional transport in the Communique, and that is in the reference to parts of an address by one of the Heads of Government. The Communique does not provide any updates on the ongoing work being undertaken towards a resolution to the region’s transportation and connectivity challenge.
Additionally, on the important matter of the Loss and Damage Fund that was proposed by COP27 last November, it is concerning that the Communique does not mention the role, if any, that Caricom is playing or will be playing in the design of the Fund. One is left to wonder if Caricom is represented on the transitional committee to make recommendations to the parties at COP28 on how both the funding arrangements and the fund itself would be operationalised.
Also surprising is the silence of the Communique on the crucially-important matter of reparations. This is a matter that must feature prominently at the Meetings of Heads of Government because reparations and the Caribbean’s development are linked in specific ways. Well-designed reparation programmes that support and promote the sustainable economic development of the region need to be developed and eventually implemented.
Caricom Heads of Government meetings provide an opportunity for critical thinking, firm decisions and resolute actions on the region’s strategic imperatives. Indeed, the unprecedented challenges that the region faces require renewed efforts and sharper focus in addressing the immediate challenges while simultaneously laying the foundations for the kind of future economy, society, and environment that we want for ourselves as a region.
This seems like it was more talk, saying right things but lack willpower to do anything.
A platform for the educated individuals act as though there more important than the common man. Having an aloof and condescending view of common man while not accomplishing nothing.
Enough with the talk…it’s time to do…I hate meetings.
Thanks for your analysis, Kari. Succinct and pointed read!