By Miranda La Rose
Though in principle the Guyana government has accepted the need for a better governance mechanism within Caricom, it has certain reservations based on what it perceives to be the technocratic nature of the proposed Caricom Commission, Minis-ter of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Dr Henry Jeffrey says.
In his presentation in the debate on the budget in the National Assembly on Thurs-day, Jeffrey said that a chapter in the national budget on Guyana’s foreign policy was not required in the current circumstances but a holistic understanding of the pervasive nature of foreign interventions.
He restated the point in the national budget that Guyana maintains its position that a fair multilateral trading system that takes account of the special circumstances of economies like Guyana’s, could boost world trade and redound to the benefit of all countries.
He made these remarks in rebutting claims by PNCR-1G MP Dr George Norton, who lamented that the national budget does not contain a chapter on the country’s foreign policy.
Jeffrey said even though it does not contain a chapter on foreign policy, the budget calls for the restart of the stalled negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a speedy conclusion of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) and for the complete institutionalization of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Noting that the focus this year in Caricom would be to facilitate work on the completion of a single market agenda, Jeffrey said that much of it deals with the regional integration process and a single vision for sustainable development based on important decisions on regional governance which have been taken and are about to be institutionalised.
He made reference in this regard to the new governance mechanism contained in a report to the Caricom Heads of Government under the chairmanship of Professor Vaughn Lewis. The report was accepted by the heads at the recently-held Inter-Sessional meeting in St Vincent and Grenadines.
Though Guyana has some reservations on the technocratic nature of the Caricom Commission which, among other recommendations, would comprise a three-member commission and a President to exercise full-time executive responsibility for the implementation of decisions relating to the CSME and any other areas of the integration process as the heads from time to time determine and to initiate proposals for community action in such areas, Jeffrey said the reservations are to be addressed during the consultation process. He urged all stakeholders to take part in the Caricom-wide consultations.
He noted that the framers of the vision grouped the economic, social, environmental and governance dimensions in six broad areas.
The areas he highlighted are self-sustaining economic growth based on strong international competitiveness, innovation, productivity and flexibility of resource use; a full employment economy that provides a decent standard of living and quality of life for all citizens eliminating poverty; and provision of adequate opportunities for young people as an alternative to emigration. He also pointed to equitable economic growth within the community, having regard to the high growth potential of member states with relatively low per capita incomes and large resources of under-utilised land and labour; social equity, social justice, social cohesion and personal security; environmental protection and ecological sustainability; and democratic, transparent and participatory governance.
Jeffrey said that the economic dimension would consider accelerated economic growth through adjustment and transformation of regional economies, greatly improv-ed international competitiveness, sustained innovation and productivity growth with the goal being for economies with lower per capita incomes to grow at the highest rates, so that some movement towards income convergence takes place.
The main drivers of growth and transformation, he noted, are to come from clusters of goods and service industries centred on the energy sector, agriculture, forestry and fishing, sustainable tourism and other export services.
While the private sector would play the leading role in investment and in the ownership and management of economic activities, he said that member states would prioritise the upgrading of human and social capital, and the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture at all levels of the society.
The social dimension encompasses legal entrenchment of the Caricom Charter of Civil Society with regular reports on its implementation by an independent body involving civil society stakeholders; adoption of a Regional Human Rights Convention now in its draft form; and adoption of a decent minimum wage and conditions of work as a common standard applied by law throughout the community. It also entails adoption of a model of corporate social responsibility as a common standard applied by law throughout the community; designating the Caribbean diaspora as the fifth social partner and adopting the principles of a community diaspora policy.
Two steps proposed under the environment dimension are the adoption of a common environmental regulatory regime which protects, preserves, enhances and manages the productive potential of the natural environment to ensure sustainable development; and sponsoring the preparation and publication of regular ‘State of the Caricom Environment’ reports.
He said that the governance dimension would need to address the community’s “implementation deficit” and the related need to strengthen popular involvement in the integration process.
In relation to the suggested governance mechanism, Jeffrey said that the contention is that if the integration process was to be advanced, suitable structures of regional governance must be devised to manage an integrated economic space, which must be based on a pragmatic approach to regional decision-making, since the promotion of the goals of economic integration presupposes an increasing degree of political consensus aimed at facilitating the achievement of agreed objectives.
