#Nassau, February 25, 2019 – Bahamas – Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert A. Minnis will lead a delegation to the 30th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in St Kitts, February 26-27, 2019.
Heads are expected to engage in
several side meetings to advance diplomacy and bilateral agreements among
Member States. High
on the agenda for The Bahamas are the recent Blacklisting by the European Union
and the political unrests in Haiti and Venezuela. Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, Joshua
Sears discussed the importance of the Meeting, which takes place just months
before Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the
Caribbean Community.
Inter-Sessional
meetings came about after Heads discovered that many items on the Agenda for
the Regular Meeting could not be adequately dealt with. Hence, a meeting in
between is held to address any issues which might require urgent attention.
“But there are also special
meetings by Heads which are called to deal with specific matters. For example,
most recently Heads met to deal with the situation in Venezuela, and after 9/11
Heads met in special session to deal with that specific issue and the economic
implications for Caribbean countries,” Mr. Sears said.
“So Inter-Sessional will give
the Prime Minister and other Heads of Government a chance to assess some
critical issues.”
According to Mr. Sears, the
Intersessional Meeting covers a full slate of issues over a two-day period.
“Quite a lot can be done in two
days. The Agenda has been set and streamlined to have focused discussions.
There will be some long hours but that’s the tradition and we have no concerns
about our ability to complete the Agenda,” he said.
Among the Agenda items are: the
CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Security issues, Blacklisting and Border
Issues.
Just recently The Bahamas, and
several other Caribbean countries, was placed on a European Union Blacklist,
which requires additional scrutiny regarding financial transactions.
“For many years CARICOM has
been advocating for a fair process and we will see now that that voice has
resonated with developed countries,” Mr. Sears said.
The United States also made its
statement on the EU’s process and it is anticipated that CARICOM Heads of
Government will also renew their commitment to working together as a group to
call for a fairer process. “The entire CARICOM region is adversely
impacted by these regulations,” Mr. Sears said, adding that, “The good thing
about it is through the Financial Action Task Force countries agreed to
recommendations to improve their financial sectors and by each country taking
the necessary steps… we follow each other and adopt the best practices, Heads
share their views, Central Banks Governors meet and they share views and they
all work towards making these recommendations more relevant to address the
financial concerns of the international financial community.”
Acknowledging that these are
“vexing problems” for The Bahamas and CARICOM as a whole, Mr. Sears said that
the developing countries within the EU feel that these centres are causing them
to lose tax revenues. “Personally, I don’t think that’s a justified
conclusion, for them to take the steps they are taking particularly when
countries have demonstrated their commitments to improving legislative
framework and policy framework. I think they are misguided in that respect,” he
said.
Heads are to also view updates
on applications for Associate Membership from Aruba, Curacao and Saint Maarten.
“Heads
agreed some time ago for these countries to be considered for membership as
these countries already have relations with CARICOM so its basically, in
essence, a formality,” Mr Sears said.
Regarding
the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, although The Bahamas joined the
Caribbean Commiunity (CARICOM) on July 4, 1983, it remains out of the CSME
which is an enlarged market offering a single economic space for the production
of competitive goods and services.
“The Bahamas is not frowned
upon for not joining the CSME, we make decisions based on our national
interests and we certainly have been a part of CARICOM. We have attended Heads
of Government meetings and there are lots of areas in which we participate like
the Community Council of Ministers, the Council of Foreign and Community
Relations, the organization dealing with health and social development and many
other areas of collaboration within the Caribbean Community. So from our point
of view there is not a concern in terms of about being isolated from or being
negatively impacted,” Mr. Sears said.
Regarding border issues, he
pointed out that a concern for The Bahamas and other member-states is the
political crisis in Venezuela, which has impacted several Member States in a
direct way.
“Guyana has been bearing the
brunt of the humanitarian crisis in terms of people crossing the border.
Trinidad has been impacted and there have been a few incidents reported. This
has been on the world stage,” Mr. Sears said, “Also the situation in Haiti has
been one of concern for CARICOM and the president of Haiti (is expected) to
brief CARICOM. Of
course, the impact on us in terms of the illegal migration is one of critical
concern.”
Heads will also have chance to
dialogue with the President of Estonia, Her Excellency Kersti Kaljulaid. It is
customary that one special guest is allowed at these meetings.
The Prime Minister’s Delegation
will include the Hon. Darren Henfield, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sears,
Viana Gardiner, Chief Operating Officer, Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit; Erica
Wells-Cox, Director of Communications Office of the Prime Minister and other
government officials.
On the margins of the
Inter-Sessional, there’s the 10th Special Meeting of the Community Council of
Ministers on February 25, which will be attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The 30th Inter-Sessional
Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community
just precedes the 40th Regular
Meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference scheduled for July in
Saint Lucia.
“It’s critical for the Bahamian
public to appreciate and understand that CARICOM is an organization which has a
strong voice in international relations. We have a strong voice on issues.
Sometimes the Bahamian people don’t appreciate the need and the necessity for
governments to participate in these organizations.
“The world is such a small place and we all try to develop best practices and standards and there are policy issues which impact education and the legal framework which calls for collaboration between Governments. When we go to the OAS, or the Commonwealth of Nations or the United Nations, CARICOM’s voice is one, which is very important too. We attend these meetings as part of that whole process,” Mr. Sears said.
By Lindsay Thompson
Release: BIS