Jump?
How High?
By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar
The Trinidad & Tobago NewsDay
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
07 01 07
Caribbean countries seemed buoyed last week after
their high-powered talks in Washington D.C, getting
a commitment from US President George Bush to extend
the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) and expand
duty-free access for goods entering to the US market
They are also looking forward to the follow-up
talks with the US administration on areas of trade,
economic growth and security. The CBI expires in
2008.
This
country’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning
told journalists attending the conference that
both sides were also dealing with a “reasonable
time-frame” and he expects the follow-up
discussions to begin almost immediately. Manning
said the basic building blocks of a plastics and
packaging industry — polyethylene and ethylene
and propylene and polypropylene — and goods
packaged in Trinidad and Tobago were issues for
the CBI.
‘We did put on the table once again, the
whole question of goods packaged in Trinidad and
Tobago having duty-free access to the US market
and that will form part of the discussions into
which we enter as we seek to upgrade the CBI, “he
said.
“And indeed, we are providing energy security
to the US and we believe that, that puts us in
a position where we should be getting some consideration
for it,” said Manning. Trinidad and Tobago,
he said, provides a high level of energy security
to the US which imports about 50 percent of ammonia,
75 percent of methanol and just under 70 percent
of LNG from the twin-island state. Ethanol which
has duty-free access under the CBI is also exported
to the U.S from Trinidad. Manning said Caribbean
leaders did not go to the top-level meetings to
make any demands but wanted to share certain issues
and concerns the Caribbean was facing. “In
outlining the case, what we sought to do was not
to specifically ask for ABC and D but to outline
the situation, outline the position of the Caribbean
countries and to ask the US that in those circumstances
what are you prepared to do. They heard it and
will consider it, “ said Manning.
Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell
said the Caribbean leaders were satisfied with
the talks held with US President and Secretary
of State, Condoleezza Rice and looked forward to
the follow-up action. “What Bush said was,
we will set up a relationship where we will have
constant dialogue to move forward with some of
the basic objectives that we’ve set ourselves
and some of the requests we’ve made. I think
that was the basic understanding that we will engage
each other more regularly than we have done,” said
the Grenadian leader.
Assistant
Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs,
Thomas Shannon, who was appointed as the
US’ main contact man to engage the Caribbean
on further talks, said Caribbean leaders have already
recognised that for their region to “survive
and maintain its identity,” they must cooperate
politically and “integrate” economically — a
move which will improve the Caribbean nations’ ability
to compete in the global market. Apart from renewing
and updating the CBI which provides duty-free access
of many Caribbean goods to the US, Shannon added
that the US also seeks to help the Caribbean grow
by revitalising its economy through strengthened
tourism and services industries. US Secretary of
Commerce Carlos Gutierrez pledged the US support
for the Caribbean by strengthening its trade and
investment relationship. In 2006, the two-way trade
between the US and the Caribbean was US$19B. In
that year, the US imported US$10.4B from CARICOM
countries — the vast majority from Trinidad
and Tobago. Gutierrez advised the Caribbean to
do what it can to create a stronger business climate.
(See page 12) Noting that CARICOM nations have
taken some very positive steps forward, the US
official said the World Bank’s Doing Business
2007 report highlights that countries have diverged
on implementation of these financial regulations
resulting in wide regional differences.
Deputy Managing Director of the World Bank, Graeme
Wheeler commended the Caribbean for the courage
to pursue deeper integration which he said will
require considerable political will and commitment.
But stating that the region cannot do it alone,
Wheeler said there were emerging issues which cannot
be solved at the national or the regional level
and would require an international response, particularly
from the OECD countries.
Issues such as drug transshipment, crime, deportees,
the hiring of skilled workers need international
cooperation. He said they must look at innovative
approaches to reducing the transaction costs of
remittances and deepening access to credit, so
small and medium enterprises can flourish, using
Conditional Cash Transfer systems to fight poverty,
provide regional infrastructure financing and provide
options for energy provision.
The
Trinidad & Tobago NewsDay
Thursday, June 28 2007
Copyright
©2007 The Trinidad & Tobago NewsDay. All
Rights Reserved.
