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07/27/2004

Press Release

US reiterates committment to B’dos and rest of the region

Web Posted - Tue Jul 27 2004 Barbados Advocate
THE United States has reiterated its commitment to the stability and economic development of Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean.
The pledge has come from Adolfo Franco, head of the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Yesterday Mr. Franco, along with other USAID officials including Ms. Karen Turner, and USA’s Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, held discussions with local officials headed by Kerrie Symmonds, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Franco told a news conference that the USA is doing everything to reinforce its message that the Caribbean remains very important to his country.
Calling the region the USA’s third border, Franco who is visiting a number of Caribbean states, said his country is maintaining the strong support to the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
“As we look towards liberalised trade regime, it is important for this region, like Central America, to pool resources to promote policies that would make the region more competitive,” the official told the media.
He said that he held good meeting with Kerrie Symmonds, Junior Minister of Foreign Trade. They discussed a number of issues ranging from the CSME to training and HIV/AIDS.
“So I want to reiterate we are committed to providing resources to promote economic development, stability, and we are doing so through a number of processes,” he declared. Through USAID the Caribbean is benefiting from a US$64.3 million Regional Programme that is focusing on economic growth, environmental management, administration of justice, and managing HIV/AIDS. Funding to date for Barbados is estimated at US$3.5 million.
Turner said they are supporting the Caricom Regional Legislative Drafting facility which represents a very important component in the functioning of the CSME.
She said that the legal infrastructure is very important since it represents a key component of the CSME. “So we are providing support to the legislative drafting facility to create the appropriate laws for CSME’s functioning,” Turner said.
USAID is also supporting the CSME Unit, and according to Ms. Turner who heads USAID’s Caribbean office, “what we are trying to build is competitiveness in Barbados and in the OECS territories”.
She noted that the latter countries are more challenged in meeting some of the requirements and “our tasks therefore are level the playing field in assisting those countries”.
William Phelps of CTRADECOM, spoke of that agency’s support in training bureaus of standards across the region.
He said that if the Caribbean is to compete successfully in international markets, it has to undertake standards for production. According to him, products that are therefore being produced for the local and international markets will have to be of high standards. “That is why we are training the bureaus,” Phelp said.
Mr. Franco’s July 25-30 trip to the Caribbean also includes St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

USAID Putting Resources Behind CSME

Webposted- Tuesday 27, July-2004 Daily Nation

THE UNITED STATES HAS not only thrown its support behind a unified Caribbean, but it is also placing money and expertise into bringing the single market to fruition.
Adolfo Franco, head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Latin America and the Caribbean, was in Barbados yesterday for a number of meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the private sector and representatives from the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) office and Ambassador Mary Kramer.
Franco said the CSME was key in helping to make the region more competitive within international liberalised trade regimes.
“It is just as important for this region as it was frankly for Central America, to pool resources, to promote policies that will make it as a whole more competitive and help in transitional issues as we move forward to a free trade regime,” said the USAID official.
He added that the talks with Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kerry Symmonds were very good and they were fully committed to seeing the CSME come into being and they were using the USAID resources to provide training manuals in various areas.
“[Among these is] immigration training to promote the free movement of people within Caricom as this is going to be pivotal to investment within the region and for economic integration,” said Franco.