Unlocking the Full Potential of the Association of Caribbean States
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Chelcee Brathwaite$*The signing of the Convention Establishing the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) on 24 July 1994 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, signalled a new era of regional cooperation, one envisaged in the 1980s when CARICOM indicated its desire to widen the integration process to include all other countries in the Caribbean Basin. Against the backdrop of furthering cooperation…
ILA Webinar on Caribbean’s Contribution to the Development of International Law – November 18, 2020
One of the objects of the Caribbean Branch of the International Law Association (ILA Caribbean Branch) is to promote understanding and the progressive development of international law in the Caribbean. As its first outreach activity, the new Executive of the Branch is convening a panel discussion on November 18, 2020 to explore the involvement of the Caribbean in the development of international law. The Faculty of Law, UWI, Cave Hill has endorsed and is providing support to the event. View the flyer below to see the expert panelists: The objectives of the panel discussion are to: a) highlight the ways in which the Caribbean has been at the forefront of the development of international law, for example, through participation in treaty-making and the work of international tribunals and international bodies such as the International Law Commission; b) spotlight the Region’s influence on the development of various fields of international law, such as the law of the sea, human rights and climate change; c) stimulate discussion on the importance of the Region remaining an active participant in the development of international law. The registration link is as follows: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wYmyr2jKQ4S3yAPMJEJ9dg
Webinar on Port Community System and Electronic Single Window to Improve Trade and Business Facilitation in Barbados
Download flyer below for further details
BIBA – Global Business Week 2020: New Opportunities in Global Trade to and from Barbados Panel
International trade, the outlook for global business development, and strengthening economic environments in a post-COVID-19 world will be among the topics of discussion at the upcoming inaugural Global Business Week 2020 (GBW 2020) Conference, from October 28-30, 2020 hosted by the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA), SRC Deputy Director, Dr. Jan Yves Remy, will moderate the panel entitled “New Opportunities in Global Trade to and from Barbados“. Other panelists include: Matthew Wilson, Chief of Staff to the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre and SRC Advisory Board Member Rupa Ganguli, Founder and CEO, Inclusive Trade Ltd. Alicia Nicholls, Trade Researcher, SRC See the promotional slideshow for the panel here: To learn more and to register, visit the Conference website here.
Reconsidering Strategic Trade Alliances for the Caribbean
Shineco Sutherland$*Caribbean news was recently abuzz with Barbados’ plan to remove the Queen as its Head of State, which would signal a severing of some of the last vestiges of its legislative colonial ties. In the aftermath of that announcement, some of the media in the Global North pounced on China as the instigator of this change, suggesting thereby that our own Caribbean leaders could not themselves be credited…
UWI-EUI E-Dialogue on “COVID-19 and Trade – Sharing the Experiences of the Caribbean and Europe” – Thursday, October 29, 2020
Join The UWI and EUI in their first partner e-dialogue on ‘#COVID-19 and Trade – Sharing theExperiences of the Caribbean and Europe’.Speakers:H.E. Joy-Ann Skinner, Ambassador of Barbados to the EUBernard Hoekman, Dean of External Relations, European University InstituteFelipe De La Mota, EU Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern CaribbeanDon Marshall, Director and Senior Research Fellow, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, The University of the West IndiesWatch live➤www.facebook.com/UWITV/
UNCTAD-SRC Webinar on International Investment Agreement Reform in the Caribbean and COVID-19 – WEDNESDAY!
Join us this Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 10:00 am (Barbados Time/US Eastern Standard Time), 4:00 pm (Central European Standard Time) for our UNCTAD-SRC co-hosted Webinar entitled ‘International Investment Agreement Reform (IIA) in the Caribbean and the COVID-19 Pandemic’. What have been the latest developments in IIA reform globally and in the Caribbean? What has been the impact of COVID-19 on IIA reform? How big is the risk of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) claims emanating from Governments’ COVID-19 responses? These are just some of the issues on which our esteemed panel of international and Caribbean investment law and policy experts will share their insights and recommendations. To pre-register Register in advance for the Webinar by clicking the Zoom link here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_w1n4JH2QTV6j88PkZxTLOA Please see the flyer above for further details. We look forward to you joining us!
Who will deliver the structural changes the pandemic has highlighted?
The SRC’s recently released Policy Brief entitled “Trading Our Way to Recovery During COVID-19: Recommendations for CARICOM Countries” was discussed by noted commentator on Caribbean issues, David Jessop, in his latest article. In the piece entitled “Who will deliver the structural changes the pandemic has highlighted?”, Mr. Jessop argued that: The document is at one and the same time, both stimulating and disheartening. It is positive in that it clearly describes the principal long standing economic policy issues holding back the region’s development and suggests several new initiatives that might be pursed. By placing them all in a post COVID recovery context the report effectively challenges governments and the private sector to address each of its forty-four policy recommendations as a part of a coherent deliverable recovery package.It is disheartening because much of what it says should have been addressed decades ago when the region’s financial capacity and the will to deliver regional solutions was much greater. Read the full article here.
SRC Releases Policy Document: Trading Our Way to Recovery During COVID-19: Recommendations for CARICOM Countries
We are excited to share with you our SRC Policy Document entitled “Trading Our Way to Recovery During COVID-19: Recommendations for CARICOM Countries” which is available here. The Policy Document was written by the SRC Research Team comprising, Chelcee Brathwaite, Alicia Nicholls and Jan Yves Remy and was peer-reviewed by a number of subject-matter experts in the topics covered by the Document. The SRC Policy Document provides a comprehensive review of the region’s economic shortcomings exposed by COVID-19 and the role that trade policy can and should play in its economic recovery. After providing an overview of CARICOM’s economic, investment and trade profiles (Chapter 1), the Policy Document looks at five main sectors that we deem critical for the region’s sustainable development. Each Chapter looks at the sector pre-COVID-19, summarizes the impact the pandemic has had on it, and then provides SRC Recommendations on how trade policy can provide solutions and answers to overcome the shortcomings exposed. Specifically, the Chapters are are organized as follows: Chapter 2: Innovation & Industrial Policy: Against the backdrop of ‘hyper-globalization’, free trade and the fourth industrial revolution, rethinking industrial policy is imperative. How then can the region adopt an innovative posture in its approach towards industrial policy? Chapter 3: Agricultural Development & Food Security: Can the region mobilize the Community Agricultural Policy outlined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in order to transform its agricultural sector, improve the state of food security and reduce the vulnerability level caused by excessive external dependence? Chapter 4: E-Commerce: With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us to embrace e-commerce and the wider digital economy, how can the region better position itself to reap the benefits from this virtual transition? Chapter 5: MSME Development & Export Activity: Across CARICOM, micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) constitute the majority of businesses and contribute significantly to regional employment. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic MSMEs have been severely impacted. We offer an export-oriented roadmap for revitalising the region’s MSMEs. Chapter 6: Investment Facilitation: Caribbean countries will require foreign capital to assist in their economic recovery efforts. How then can the region promote and facilitate sustainable investment going forward to aid its recovery? We will be releasing individual Chapters in the coming weeks as SRC Policy Briefs.
Panel on ‘Current Trade Policy Issues in the Caribbean Region’
The World Trade Organization launched on 10 August 2020 its first online Regional Trade Policy Course (e-RTPC) for Caribbean Members and Observers. The e-RTPC has been organized by the Regional Trade Policy Course Unit of the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) of the WTO. Twenty government officials from ten Caribbean Members of the WTO are attending the e-RTPC that will end 13 November 2020. The objectives of the e-RTPC are to: 1) deepen understanding of the WTO Agreements and the functioning of the WTO, its rules and procedures; 2) strengthen capacity to access WTO information resources and the ability to find relevant provisions in the WTO legal texts; and 3) enhance understanding of relevant trade policy issues in their regional context. As a contribution to the third objective a panel of distinguished trade policy experts from the Caribbean region will share in a roundtable discussion their views on current trade policy issues in the Caribbean region. The roundtable discussion will be moderated and include a questions and answers session. The event is scheduled on Friday 9 October from 15:00 to 17:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) / 09:00 to 11:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST). To register, please click on the link here.