Common Challenges faced by countries in the Caribbean Region

High level of indebtedness

 The development of the Caribbean region is negatively impacted by their onerous debt burdens,
which compel them to create high primary surpluses as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product
(G.D.P) and thereby prevent them from spending on infrastructural development and provision
of basic social services which are necessary to attack investment. The Primary surplus represents
the extent which a government is prepared to reduce expenditure on basic social services such as
- education, health care, infrastructure development in order to service public debt.

The Caribbean governments seek help in tackling their debt burden from the following
institutions.
-International Monetary Fund (I.M.F)
-World Bank
-Inter-American Development Bank (I.D.B)

Inadequate Technology

The caribbean region is blessed with the abundance of natural resources. These resources have
attracted millions of tourist to the region. However, the Caribbean countries are unable to
properly develop these resources becouse of inadequate technology. The information technology
revolution is slow on sweeping the Caribbean region because of limited funds.

Differences in resources
The differences in distribution of natural resources in the region makes those countries with
limited resources feel that they would be at a disadvantage if they should enter a trading
relationship with the countries that have greater resources.

Unemployment and Underemployment 

Revealed that some countries are having between 12% and 20% of the labour force unemployed
or underemployed. There is a need for the regional heads of government to work together to
create employment opportunities. A large number of our people are employed in primary
industries, especially agriculture. Most of the raw materials that we produce are exported for
processing in the more developed countries. This therefor has far reaching impact on availability
of jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors. In this regard, regional leaders could expedite regional
integration, allowing for skilled persons to move freely within the region and make more
efficient use of available natural resources to create secondary and tertiary level industries to
provide more jobs for Caribbean people.

Membership
The membership of the West Indies State Council of Ministers Include

*Antigua and Barbuda *Dominica 

*Grenada *Montserrat
*St.Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla *St.Lucia and St.Vincent

There were overriding reasons for the Caribbean states to integrate, some of which are included
below:

 The resources of each country were limited

 The Caribbean countries all faced similar economic, political and social problems
 The Caribbean countries share common history, culture and people 
 Individual countries were too small to make their presence felt on the world stage

The above issue faced by the Caribbean countries require common solutions, thus integration
was inevitable

Membership - West Indian Federation

This was the first major attempt at regional integration in the Caribbean. They operated on the
principal of strengthening the government for self-government promoting economic
development and to safeguard the democratic system of the member states that included:

 Antigua Barbados
 Grenada Dominica
 Jamaica Montserrat
 St.Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla St.Vincent 
 St.Lucia Trinidad and Tobago

Self government- Government by the citizens of country and not an outside country.

The purpose of Integration

The main aim of regional integration is to enhance the development of the region through:
 Developing human resources
 Providing improved educational facilities 
 Helping business thrive through policies of trade, free movement of labour and tariff
reduction

Ways in which the challenges facing the Caribbean region can be resolved:

 Implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements among Caribbean countries.

 Education awareness programs that will inform citizens on ways in which they can prepare
for natural disasters
 Diversification of agricultural products/crops

Aims and objectives of West Indian Federation

 To be a single state independent from Great Britain
 To secure cheaper prices for imports and better prices for export
 To come up with ideas to solve their social and economic problems. Since Britain did not
show interest in their welfare after emancipation.

Steps towards regional integration

CSME (Caricom Single Market and Economy)

The Caricom treaty was revised in February 2002 and gave birth to CSME. This is a deepening
to the integration process which ensures the strengthening of the Caribbean community in all
areas.

ACS(1995) Association of Caribbean States 

This association was formed in July 2, 1995 between English, Spanish, French and Dutch
speaking countries and territories of the Caribbean Sea. Their aim is for member countries to
work together on ensuring the sustainable development of the entire Caribbean region.

OECS(1981) Organization of Easter Caribbean States

A group of the less developed countries of the commonwealth Caribbean established on June 18,
1981 whose objective was to maintain political independence and promote the formation of a
common market and common foreign policies.

CARICOM(1973) Caribbean Community and Common Market

This movement is a successor to Carifta. The treaty of Chaguaramas gave birth to the movement
in 1973 in Trinidad and Tobago. The three main objectives of Caricom are economic co-
operation, functional co-operation and political integration

CARIFTA (Caribbean free Trade Association)

Carifta was formed in 1968. It comprised the more developed and less developed countries of the
commonwealth Caribbean. The objective of the movement was to promote infra-regional trade
where a group of countries agree to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade among them
( free trade area)

Stages in the integration movement

 The West Indian Federation- Lasted from 1958 to 1962

 CARIFTA- Lasted from 1968 to 1973
 CARICOM - 1973 to present
 OECS - 1981 to present
 CSME - 2002 to present

Achievements of the West Indian Federation

 The coming together of small states improved their effectiveness in dealing with international
bodies
 The federation facilitated the movement from colonialism to independence

Reason for their Failure 

 Lack of support from citizens of the Caribbean islands.

 Conflict among political leaders of the Caribbean who hated their personals goals for power
 Increased migration of people from smaller countries to large countries
 The islands were at different stages of political development.

Membership States of CARIFTA

1. Barbados 7. St.Vincent
2. St.Lucia 8. Dominica
3. Montserrat  9. St.Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla
4. Antigua 10. Jamaica
5. Belize 11. Trinidad and Tobago
6. Guyana 12. Grenada

All members states of CARIFTA were former members of the West Indian Federation.

Aims and objectives of CARIFTA

 To promote economic development in the region

 To promote infra-regional trade by creating a free trade area
  The association worked towards greater co-operation in areas such as airports, health,
education and shipping

NB. Unlike the West Indian Federation, CARIFTA did not fail. The member states decided to
deepen corporation by forming CARICOM. It is the successor to CARIFTA and is sometimes
described as a strengthened CARIFTA

Membership of the Organization Of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

Established on June 18,1981

 Antigua and Barbuda

 Commonwealth of Dominica
 Grenada
 Montserrat
 St.Kitts and Nevis
 St.Lucia
 St.Vincent and the Grenadines 
The members of the OECS are small developing states

Members of CARICOM

1. Antigua and Barbuda

2. The Bahamas (of the community only)
3. Barbados
4. Belize
5. Dominica
6. Grenada
7. Guyana
8. Haiti ( Provisional member since july 4, 1997)
9. Jamaica
10. Montserrat
11. St.Kitts and Nevis
12. St.Lucia
13. St.Vincent and the Grenadines
14. Trinidad and Tobago
15. Suriname

Associate members of CARICOM

 Anguilla (July 4,1988)
 British Virgin Island (July 2, 1991)
 Turks and Caicos Islands (July 2, 1991)
 Cayman Islands ( May 16, 2002)

NB. CARICOM was established by the treaty of Chaguaramas on July 4th 1973
Caribbean Community and common Market.
Effective operation of CARICOM began on August 1st 1973

Aims and objectives of the OECS

 To promote development by the formation of a common market among member states

 To assist each other in defending and maintaining political independence 
 To deal more effectively with international bodies by forming a common foreign policy.

Associate members of the OECS include

 Anguilla
 British virgin island 
 Martinique (09/02/15)

Members of the Association of Caribbean states (ACS)

1. St.Vincent and the Grenadines  13. The Bahamas
2. Barbados 14. Nicaragua
3. Colombia 15. Costa Rica
4. Dominica 16. The Dominican Republic
5. El Salvador
6. Guatemala 17. Guyana
7. Haiti 18. Jamaica
8. Mexico 19. Antigua and Barbuda
9. Panama 20. St.Kitts and Nevis
10. St.Lucia 21. Suriname
11. Trinidad and Tobago 22. Venezuela
12. Belize 23. Honduras
13. Cuba 24. Grenada

Associate members of ACS

 Martinique
 Guadeloupe
  French-Guiana
 Aruba
 Netherland Antilles

NB.The administrative office of the ACS is in Port-of-Spain Trinidad

Functions of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean states (OECS)

The following bodies (Principal institutions) have seen the proper functioning of the OECS.

1. The Authority of heads of government of member states- This consist of the Prime Ministers
of member states. This institution is regarded as the supreme policy making institutions of
the OECS as they are bequeathed with the responsibility for the general direction and overall
operation of the organization

2. The foreign affairs committee- Responsible for coordinating and developing foreign policies
for the entire OECS member states.

Aims of the ACS

 Encouraging increased trade and investment opportunities among member states
 Providing new and improved measures to promote the cultural identities of its membership
 Maximizing the potential of the Caribbean by working with member states and other
organizations

The Main functions of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretariat

 Initiate or develop proposals for consideration and decision by the relevant Organs
 Initiate, organize and conduct studies
 Provide, on request, services to member states on community-related matters 
 Service meetings of the Organs and bodies of the community and take appropriate follow-up
action on decision taken
 Collect, store and disseminate relevant information to member states
 Assist community organs in the development and implementation of proposals and
programmes
 Mobilize resources from donor agencies to assist in the implementation of community
programmes 
 Prepare the draft work programme and budget of the secretariat for examination by the
budget committee
 Provide, on request, technical assistance to national authorities to facilitate implementation of
community decisions.
 Conduct as mandated, fact-finding assignments in members states

NB. The Secretariat is located in Guyana and is the main administrative body of
CARICOM

The Defence and security committee- This committee is responsible for ensuring that there is
concerted and cooperative action among member states in defending their sovereignty,political
independence and the democratic system of government.

The economic affairs committee- This committee is responsible for the economic affairs of the
OECS. It ensures that member states trade freely among each other and formulates plans to
further economic development

The central Secretariat- This arm is responsible for the general management of the OECS

The OECS is very organized, and this has led to the formation of their institutions to assist in the
performance of their functioning, namely:

1. Eastern Caribbean Central Bank(ECCB) - The monetary authority for the member states of
the OECS
2. Easter Caribbean Supreme Court- Adjudicates over the member states of the OECS
3. Directorate of Civil Aviation(DCA)- Serves as advisors to the government of the OECS on
all matters relating to civil aviation- airports and airfields developments, adequacy and
efficiency of air services,etc.
4. Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authorities(ECTEL)- Responsible for establishing
code of ethics and regulatory policies which governs and guide the management of the
telecommunication sector in the member states.

Principal Organs of CARICOM

 Conference of heads of government: consist of Prime Ministers of all member states of the
Caribbean community

 The community council of ministers: Consist of ministers responsible for the development of
community strategic planning and the coordination in areas of economic
integration,functional cooperation and external relations

 The Common market council 

 Conference of heads of government function
 To make decisions on policies of CARICOM
  To settle disputes concerning the operations of the treaty

Common market council

 To review the operations of free trade among member states
 Ensuring that trade barriers are not applied in trading between member states

The community council/Institution of Ministers

 Resolving problems arising within their respective ministries
 Formulation and adoption of common policies for their respective ministries

Failures of CARICOM

 Conflict has arise on several occasions because member states fail to cooperate in exploring
common resources
 There is competition among member states in air transport. There is failure to agree on a
common carrier for the region
 Trinidad and Tobago has natural gas and crude oil to provide energy for manufacturing.
Jamaica and Guyana have vast bauxite resources but an aluminum plant using energy from
Trinidad and Bauxite from other countries is yet to be develop.

The principal Organs of CARICOM are assisted by four Ministerial councils

1. The Council for Trade and Economic Development (CQTED)

2. The Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR)
3. The Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) 
4. The Council for Finance and planning (COFAP)

Objectives for the Eastern Caribbean States

 Promote unity and solidarity among member states in defending their sovereignty,territorial
integrity and political independence
 Promote economic integration among member states through establishing the East Caribbean
Common Market
 Assisting member states in the realization of their obligations and responsibilities to the
international community
 Harmonization of foreign policy among the member states, adopting common positions when
dealing with international bodies

Objectives of CARICOM

 Economic co-operation: to promote economic integration through the Caribbean common

market
 Political integration: To promote the co-ordination of foreign policy in dealing with non-
member states and trans-national corporation. For eg. Common external tariff, harmonization
of fiscal incentives, common policy on tourism
 Functional co-operation: To promote the establishment of common services and co-operation
in functional matters such as agriculture, communications, culture, health, education,
financing and industrial relations.

Institutions of CARICOM

CARICOM members’ states cooperate in a number of way through the establishment of a

number of institutes.

 Financing: The CDB (Caribbean Development Bank

 The CIC (Caribbean Investment Corporation)
 The CDF( Caribbean Development Funds)

 Agriculture: CARDI (Caribbean Agricultural and Development institution)

 Education: CXC (Caribbean Examination Council)

 UWI (University of the West Indies)
 UG( University of Guyana)
 Sports- WICB ( West Indies Cricket Board)

 Law-   CCJ ( Caribbean Court of Justice

 CLE ( Council of Legal Education)

 Tourism- CTO ( Caribbean Tourism Organization)

 Broadcasting- CBU (Caribbean Broadcasting Union)

 CMC (Caribbean Media coorporation
 CANA( Caribbean News Agency)

 Creative Arts- CARIFESTA ( Caribbean Festival of Arts)

 Health-     CFC (Caribbean food cooporation)

 CFNI (Caribbean food+ Nutrition Institute)
 CEHI( Caribbean environmental Health Institute)

 Meteorology CMO ( Caribbean Meteorology Organization)

 CDERA( Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency)

Objectives of CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)

In February, 2002, the CARICOM treaty was revised, thus giving birth to Caricom Single
Market and Economy. This saw the deepening of relationship among Caricom member states.
This was necessary to due due the process of globalization.

The following are some of the outlined objectives of the CSME:

 Free movement of goods, services, labour and capital among the member States
 Improved standard of living and work
 Full employment of labour and other factors of production
 Accelerated, co-ordinated and sustained economic development
 Expansion of trade and economic relationships with third states
 Enhance levels of international competitiveness
 Organization for increased production and productivity
 The achievement of a greater measure of economic leverage and effectiveness of member
states in dealing with third states, groups of states and entities of any description.
 Enhanced co-ordination of member states foreign and extra-regional economic policies 
 Enhanced functional co-operation including:
  More efficient operation of common services and activities for the benefit of its
peoples 
 Accelerated promotion of greater understanding among its people and the
advancement of their social,cultural and technological development.
 Facilitate activities in areas such as health, education, transportation, and
telecommunication.

Factors promoting regional integration

Exploration of the factors promoting regional integration

 Common language- The language of the Caribbean people is English, and this facilitates
easy communication.

 Close Proximity- The Caribbean countries are relatively close to each other, hence, travel
by air or sea from one country to another can be done in a relatively short space of time

 Caribbean countries share a common history: Most of the Caribbean people are
descendant of people who had been subjected to slavery and indenture-ship. This makes
it possible for the Caribbean people to embrace each other.

 Common cultural heritage: The Caribbean people share a common culture in term of
language, dress, music, cuisine and general lifestyle. All these features make the
integration process smoother

 Small population: The Caribbean countries are at a disadvantage when competing against
international markets because of their small size, thus; coming together makes it easier to
influence international markets.

 The Limited human and physical resources available: In the Caribbean region necessitate
the pooling and trading of these resources among Caribbean countries.

 Common Economic, political and social problems: The Caribbean countries encounter
similar problems, inclusive of, but not limited to unemployment, difficulty accessing
international markets, lack of adequate capital, poor housing and inadequate health
facilities.

 The common challenges of globalization and trade liberalization- companies all over the
world are doing business in many countries, filtrating into the Caribbean region creating
unwelcome competition. The Caribbean government can no longer restrict extra-regional
imports to protect regional manufactures/companies, hence, Caribbean businesses are
required to amalgamate or face ruin.

 The increase in the number of trading blocs- Across the world, economic groupings and
trading blocs are being established where a large number of countries are linked by
 special trading arrangements among them. For example, the European Union (E.U.) the
Caribbean is required to do the same to ensure productivity and continuity in its
economic growth.

Factors preventing Regional Integration

CARICOM member states have made several attempts at integration, while some of these
attempts have been successful, others have met upon obstacles that persist to present. The
following factors have Hindered the integration process of the Caribbean region

 Absence of common model or strategy for development: CARICOM member states have
pursued different strategies for political and economic development. There are some that
depend on agriculture, another on tourism, one on petroleum. The fact that the varying
countries are pacing emphasis on different strategies suggest that a common policy will not
exist and countries will only be interested in policies that relate to the strategy they are
pursuing. Jamaica would be more interested in debating a common policy on tourism or
agriculture because they depend on those for economic development, but would generate
little or no interest in a policy on petroleum because they do not pursue such for
development.
 Differences in stages of growth and development: The fact that the Caribbean countries
pursue different strategies for development means that they will all be at a different level of
growth and development. The less development countries are hesitant to trade with the more

 Free movement of goods, labour and capital: All goods which meet CARICOM standards are
traded duty free throughout the region, therefore all goods created within the region can be
traded without restriction. There is also an agreed policy called the Caribbean community
free movement of persons Act. enacted in all CSME member states. Under this Act, it allows
for free movement of certain categories of skilled workers, which will later evolve into the
free movement of all persons across the CSME member states. There is also a move to
eliminate the various restrictions such as foreign exchange controls which will allow for free
movement of capital across the CSME member states. This will allow for the convertibility
of currencies or a single currency and capital market integration.

 Better response to economic implications of globalization and trade liberalization: The act of
the larger international companies doing business across the world and in the Caribbean has
forced the Caribbean businesses to amalgamate in order to survive, thus creating a greater
sense of unity. Caribbean governments can no longer protect the regional manufactures by
restricting extra-regional imports, as such, the Caribbean people have been encouraged to
support regional manufactures. Regional manufactures have improved their products and
services and this has made it possible for them to compete with producers in developed
countries.

 Improved Levels of international competitiveness: CARICOM has a stronger, more

persuasive voice on international matters than as individual countries. The size of a country
 dictates to its power, and the integrated approach of the Caribbean countries has lent to
greater influence on the international scene. Individual member states are too small to
withstand economic competition from more develop countries and trading blocs. A united
voice among member states has resulted in better prices for extra-regional export and cheaper
prices for imports to the region from other international sources.

 Increased co-operation among member states: the integration process among member states
of CARICOM has allowed for greater co-operation and utilization of the services offered by
the different institutions of the organization.

 Improvement in the quality of life: The increased job opportunities accrued through the
cooperative effort of the Caribbean states have led to job creation and economic development
and consequent increase in the quality of life for the Caribbean people.