Regional Integration.

● Define the term regional integration.

Regional integration may be defined as the unification of a variety of
Commonwealth states within the Caribbean space to operate as a
greater whole .

● State at least three purposes of integration.

Some purpose of regional integration is to enhance development of the
region through:
● Developing human resources.
● Making the best use of natural resources.
● Providing improved education facilities.
● Improving health standards.
● Helping businesses to thrive through policies of free trade, free
movement of labour and tariff reduction or elimination.

● List at least five of the major challenges facing the Caribbean

Region.

Some major challenges facing the Caribbean region includes:

Small developing Islands, Slow human resources development, low
productivity, Unemployment and Underemployment, Migration, debt
burden, Limited physical resources, Lack of diversity, inadequate
technology and Natural disaster.

● Describe the major challenges facing the Caribbean Region.

● The Caribbean region consists of a number of countries that

may be considered developing countries. This is so as they
have not reached the standard of the world. The size of the land
structures are small as well as their population and economy.
This may lead to the cost of living being high. Goods produced
are not often not done in large quantities which results in
products and service to be expensive and uncompetitive.

● The greatest resource available to Caribbean nationals are its

human resources. While there is progression in the
development of people there are still too many that are
struggling with numeracy and literacy growth. This slow
progression affects access to what life has to offer and limits
 choices of employment. With little growth in the health sector
as it relates to adequate personnel and equipment needed to to
aid citizens, then productivity will also be slow or stagnant.
Also some of those who are progressing find themselves
looking elsewhere for more suitable employment and living
conditions.

● Productivity is the ability of a nation to gather its resources in

order to generate consistent economic growth. The Caribbean
nations levels of productivity are low as they are not able to
sufficiently measure up their output with their input. This is
brought about as there are limited resources, underdeveloped
human resources and the lack of investment. This leads to costs
being high and goods produced nationally are unable to access
international markets.

● Unemployment is the state of being out of a permanent paying

job while underemployment is being on a job that offers less
pay than the qualification possessed. This is a common issue
for citizens of the Caribbean. There is a grave challenge for
jobs as the market does not offer a variety, resulting in serious
competition for similar jobs. A slow decrease in unemployment
and underemployment has proven to increase antisocial
behaviours and criminal astd from youths.

● Migration refers to the permanent move of people from one

geographical location to another. Many of the region's
qualified citizens leave to live and look for work in other
developed countries, usually in North America and Europe.
This move has both a pstotive and negative impact. When
remittances are sent back it is positive as it forms a significant
part of a country's gross national product. Also many highly
skilled and qualified personnels leave, whether temporarily or
permanently. This is called brain drain. Foreign experts are
often called in to fill these spaces which is very costly and the
nation often loses when they have been trained by public
expenses.

● Debt burden speaks to money owed and must be repaid

consequently a strain (burden). Caribbean nationals have
borrowed money to maintain their economies and to finance a
variety of projects and services offered. Money is borrowed
from commercial financial institutions regionally and
internationally. Examples of this include the Caribbean
 Development Bank and the international Monetary Fund. This
action is due to economic challenges faced by Caribbean
nations. The shortage of capital poses severe restrictions on the
availability of public and private capital so investment is not
available locally. With the lack of this money has to be sourced
elsewhere to meet the growing needs of the population. Money
is borrowed as they do not have much domestic savings.

● The Caribbean has a limited amount of natural resources. This

has led to sourcing what is needed through imp;ortatio. This
venture is very costly. Some of the natural resources are not
evenly spread and this leaves some at a grave disadvantage than
others.

● The Caribbean suffers from a lack of diversity. This is due to

the practice of monocropping a legacy which has been passed
down from the plantation era. This is the growing of a single
crop. Monocropping prevents or limits the chances of nations
engaging in successful trade relationships due to fluctuations in
price and demand for commodities. With limited products then
there's a limitation to the goods available to choose from at a
reasonable or cheap price. The lack thereof calls for
importation which fosters variety but at a high expense.

● Due to the fact that Caribbean nations are developing suggest

that the technology and infrastructure needed are inadequate
and or limited. While there has been an improvement in the
supply of technological devices, the availability of internet
service is still a major issue. This is a problem in this era. Job
creation is affected resulting in increased unemployment and
slow economic increase for the population and the government.

● The position of the Caribbean has made its nations prone to a

range of catastrophic events with atmospheric, geological, and
hydrological origins that affect the lives of its people- natural
disasters. This often leads to loss in businesses, productivity
and infrastructures.The high risk has been a demotivation for
investors (whether governmental, natural or international) to
expand their business as repair for potential damages is a major
factor.
● Define domestic savings, gross national product, developed
country, developing countries, economies of scale, brain drain,
gross domestic product.
Gross national product may be defined as the total monetary or
market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a
country.

Developed country is also called an industrialised country and has a

mature and sophisticated economy, usually measured by gross
domestic product (GDP) and/or average income per resident. It has an
advanced technological infrastructure and has a diverse industrial and
service sectors.

Developing country is a nation that has not achieved a significant

degree of industrialization relative to their populations, and have, in
most cases, a medium to low standard of living. There is an association
between low income and high population growth.

Economies of scale a proportionate saving in costs gained by an

increased level of production.

Brain drain refers to the movement of qualified and highly skilled

personnels from their country of origin to love into another.

Gross domestic product ( GDP) is the measuring of the monetary

value of final goods and services. That is, those that are bought by the
final user—produced in a country in a given period of time (say a
quarter or a year). It counts all of the output generated within the
borders of a country.

● List the major stages in the integration movement in the

Caribbean.
The major stages in the integration movement in the Caribbean are:
● The West Indies Federation (WIF)
● Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA)
● Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
● Organisation of Easten Caribbean States (OECS)
● Associations of Caribbean States ( ACS)
● CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)

● Outline the major stages in the integration movement within the

Caribbean.
The major stages in the integration movement in the Caribbean are:
● The West Indies Federation (WIF) was the first attempt in
unifying the British nations within Caribbean space.

The aim was to bring about a political union among 10 nations.

The federation achieved the move from colonialism and to
ensure democracy prevailed in the Caribbean. It was formed in
1958 and crashed in 1962.

WIF failed, as smaller states did not trust larger states, citizens
were not properly educated about the importance of federation
and its benefits. The communication channels available were
not efficient and there were several disagreements over
measures proposed for the operation of taxes, freedom of
movement and general financing. Too much pressure was
placed on Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

● CARIFTA was formed in 1965 but became official in 1968

following the signing of the Dickenson Bay agreement to join
the economies of the nations that gained independence recently.

This integration would have given them a stronger presence in

international affairs. Trade between nations was encouraged as
well as diversifying commodities and service. liberalising trade.
Was a big ove to remove customs duties, taxes and licensing
arrangements which previously stifled greater volumes of trade
among islands.

During this time the Caribbean Development Bank was

established with the purpose of providing resources to those
countries whose economies could be regarded as less
developed. CARIFTA did not fail, rather they decided to
enlarge and deepen cooperation by forming CARICOM.

● The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) became the

Caribbean Community in 1973. The Caribbean community was
established by the treaty of Chaguaramas. This is made up of
two agreements: i) one is for the Caribbean community & ii.)
the Common Market.

The aim was to widen regional economic integration by

increasing free trade in regionally produced goods among
members, encouraging members to pursue common trade
policies when dealing with non- members & encouraging
 members to share the cost of establishing & operating
organisations which provide common services for the region in
education, health, culture communications & industry.

● CARICOM Single Market & Economy (CSME) was revised in

2002 with the intention of establishing an economy. This
prh]organisation is in part a response to the challenges and
opportunities of globalisation and trade liberalisation.

● Identify the countries that are part of each stage in the integration
movement in the Caribbean.

Caribbean countries that were/ are apart of the different phases of

regional integration include:

Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Bahamas, Turks &

Caicos, Cayman Island, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia,
Bermuda, Suriname, Haiti, Montsseratt, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts
& Nevis, Grenada, Belize, Anguilla, British Virgin Island, Dominica.

● Define the term treaty, bilateral agreement, multilateral

agreements, free trade, tariff, economic integration, common
market, multinational corporations, globalisation, sustainable
development, trade liberalisation & protectionist policy.

Treaty may be defined as a formally concluded and ratified agreement

between states.

Bilateral agreement speaks to an agreement between two nations or

states that aims to keep trade deficits to a minimum.

Multilateral agreement refers to an agreement between three nations

or more states that aims to keep trade deficits to a minimum.

Free trade may be defined as an occurrence when goods and services

can be bought and sold between countries or sub-national regions
without tariffs, quotas or other restrictions being applied.

Economic integration speaks to the coming together of a number of

states

Tariff is the tax to be paid on a particular class import and export.

Common market refers to an economic association, as of nations,
formed to remove trade barriers among its members.

Multinational corporations are also called transnational corporations.

They are any corporation that is registered and operates in more than
one country at a time. Generally the corporation has its headquarters in
one country and operates wholly or partially owned subsidiaries in
other countries.

Globalisation may be defined as the growing interdependence of the

world's economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-
border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of
investment, people, and information.

Sustainable development speaks to growth that meets the needs of the

present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.

Trade liberalisation is the removal or reduction of restrictions or barriers on

the free exchange of goods between nations.

Protectionist policy refers to the government of a country promoting

domestic producers, and thereby boosting the domestic production of
goods and services by imposing tariffs or otherwise limiting foreign
goods and services in the marketplace.