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05/03/2004

Press Release

Regional Youth Participate in Regional Workshop on Trade

GLOBALIZATION, trade liberalization and the general external trade environment were the subjects of a regional conference for youth, made possible with assistance from the Caribbean Trade and Competitiveness Development Project (C-TRADECOM), a United States Agency for Development sponsored project.

Together with the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), C-TRADECOM, sought to raise the level of education and awareness among the region's youth on the issues through a Regional Youth Workshop which was staged in Guyana from April 28-30.

According to organizers of the workshop, the initiative was held with the realization that, within many countries in the region, the youth represents one of the largest segments of the population and the challenge and potential of globalization and trade liberalization affects them in many ways.

The two-day workshop was both technical and interactive, providing the participants with specific information on the nature and make up of the current international trading regime as well as with practical skills and opportunities to engage with regional negotiators, policy makers, the private sector and other relevant entities.

CPDC officials said that in some initial engagement which they did with the youth through a pilot schools program in Barbados and Grenada, one of the main findings was that young people, particularly those getting ready to engage the job market, had very little concrete knowledge about the current nature of globalization and trade liberalization.

“On the other hand, there was also a very pessimistic view about the region's ability to rise above these challenges, suggesting that young people are generally not empowered to think proactively and positively about not only the challenges but also about the potential benefits of globalization and trade liberalization,” the organisers said.

They said the workshop and other sustained initiatives to engage the region's youth are necessary because there is no discounting the fact that the ability of the region to capitalize on the benefits from the emerging environment depends on the preparation and mobilization of its people, with the youth representing a critical group in this equation.

It is envisioned that this regional workshop will produce a multiplier effect where participants from this workshop, onreturn to their national locales, homes, families, friends and schools, will now begin raising awareness among these groups. CPDC will also continue to support national level of mobilization of youth through its National Working Committees on Trade (NWCT).

Participants at the workshop were exposed to expert facilitators from throughout the region including regional policy makers and negotiators, CARICOM and OECS officials as well as extra regional experts.

At present the region is currently in the midst of negotiating several agreements/arrangements including externally with the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the European Union while internally they are seeking to forge the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

For further details contact Communications Specialist Patrick Knight at pknight@carana.com