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12/02/2004

Press Release

Free Trade Awareness Being Brought to the Heart of the City

Issues surrounding the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will be brought to the heart of busy Bridgetown next week.

This is when the Barbados Association of NGOs (BANGO), with support from the United States Agency for International Development's Latin America and Caribbean Trade Project (LAC Trade), will be conducting a series of outreach activities on the CSME and FTAA during Volunteer Week 2004.

On Friday December 10, Heroes Square will literally become a CSME and FTAA Zone from 9 a.m., as booths will be set up where personnel from several organizations and institutions will be on hand to explain various aspects of both trading arrangements to the general public. This event, which is being done in conjunction with the Barbados Government Information Service, will also involve the distribution of promotional material.

On Friday, a cultural parade from Cheapside to Heroes Square will see CARICOM States being highlighted and messages about the CSME and FTAA being portrayed in the form of costumes, banners and placards. The parade will end with a cultural presentation on the CSME/FTAA in Heroes Square.

The week which begins with a Church Service at the St. Michael's Cathedral on December 5 at 9 a.m., followed by a National Volunteer Awards Ceremony at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic at 5 p.m. the same day, will end with a National Consultation at United Nations House on Saturday, December 11 beginning at 9 a.m.

According to organizers of the initiative, the educational outreach was organized because it was realized that despite government's active role in promoting the CSME and FTAA within the region and abroad, the general population of Barbados still lacks a solid understanding of what the trade liberalization process involves.

They said many people hear the terms CSME and FTAA being used in media reports on a daily basis, but some still do not know either the meaning of the acronyms, what the agreements involve and how they could impact on their lives. For this reason, they are inviting all Barbadians to come out and attend the information sessions and other activities surrounding Volunteer Week.