CARICOM Communique coming out of 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting held in Belize

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#Belize, March 11, 2022 – Several agreements were signed by the CARICOM states in attendance of the 33rd Inter-Sessional meeting in Belize last week, including a protocol to change the definition of what is a CARICOM national.

The final Communique informs that an agreement was also signed between Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Grenada to allow enhanced cooperation among member states.

COVID-19 

CARICOM leaders have also pledged to work together to get to a higher rate of Covid-19 vaccination and the plan is to also mount a regional campaign to “combat disinformation that encourages vaccine hesitancy.”

CARICOM heads of government also agreed to a ‘regional strategy for manufacturing vaccines in the region. The move is a significant one, as the possibility of another pandemic demands that our small island states not be in a waiting pattern as has been the case in the current Coronavirus pandemic.

It took months for regional countries to get the vaccine, despite global promises of equity in distribution.

TRADE, ENERGY & FOOD

When it comes to Energy and Trade and Climate Change, CARICOM leaders have coalesced around the need for ‘urgent attention’ when it comes to the development of an energy strategy in respect of fossil fuels and renewables.’

An action plan to hasten the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy has also been approved.

Heads of State agreed that the CSME is the Caribbean’s best option for beating the economic downturn caused by Covid-19 and making the region stronger, saying that ‘urgent and immediate action was needed.’

This means the CSME is now much closer to fruition in policy.

The secretariat will investigate the ten major no- food items imported into the region that we can make ourselves in the Caribbean, as they could be big investment opportunities.

Food security was also addressed with Guyana and Suriname both offering up land for the production of major import foods. There were also promises made to modernize food production in the Caribbean with greater use of technology and emphasis on human resource development.

Guyana, in particular will train 30 people in the construction of shade houses, a move aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and output.

The Heads of Government who attended the meeting based on the agreement signed rallied around the call for integration made at the start of the meeting and have pushed CARICOM that much closer to the single market.