SRC Trading Thoughts
The SRC Trading Thoughts Column is a bimonthly issue produced at the SRC in which we, or contributing authors, provide critical views and thoughts on issues of ongoing interest in trade and investment, with a particular focus on the Caribbean.
If you would like to contribute as an author, please contact us.
Editorial Guidelines – SRC Trading Thoughts Submissions
- Title: “SHRIDATH RAMPHAL CENTRE TRADING THOUGHTS” followed by the title of the article below e.g “Trade Policy in COVID-19 times”.
- Insert the authorship i.e.: By Dr. Jane Doe or John Doe
- Word limit (700 – 1,200 words)
- No footnotes or endnotes.
- In text Hyperlinks can be included e.g: The WTO Report was published last week.
- Please avoid excessive use of jargon and overly technical language.
- Please conclude by including a short byline “Jane Doe is [INSERT JOB TITLE] with [INSERT PLACE OF AFFILIATION].
Publications
Chryssanti Braithwaite$*Since the start of oil production in 2019, Guyana’s economy has not merely grown, but has taken off. This can be substantiated by the fact that in 2024 the real Gross Domestic...
Ambassador Matthew Wilson & Brian Kelly Nyaga$*CARICOM Member states are navigating a complex multipolar crisis defined by shifting geopolitical alignments, increasing debt, escalating climate...
Vanessa Mason$*The finalisation of the United Nations’ (U.N.) International Maritime Organization (IMO) Net-zero Framework (NZF) is said to hold great promise for climate action in the form of green...
Alicia Nicholls$*Lapping against the shores of several sovereign countries and dependent territories, the Caribbean Sea is our patrimony. Many of us learnt how to swim or were even baptized in its...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*I have learnt a long time ago that being a supporter of Caribbean integration is akin to that of being a West Indies Cricket Fan we spend more time defending their performance than...
Alicia Nicholls$*Besides tourism, financial services are among the main services exported by Caribbean countries, particularly those jurisdictions which are classified as international financial...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*On 14 April, I had the privilege of being invited as a panelist for a webinar provocatively titled “The End of Multilateralism? Strengthening International Organizations Under...
Dr. Kai-Ann D. Skeete$*We are now in a world, where might makes everything conveniently right and small but powerless countries find no refuge in multilateral spaces. This world order has erased the...
Rosemarie Cadogan and Tianna Blades$*Studies conducted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimate that in 2018, Green House Gas (GH)G emissions from shipping accounted for approximately...
Alicia Nicholls$*U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s renewed ‘America First’ trade policy is a must-watch development for the Caribbean given the U.S.’s role as the region’s primary trading partner –...
Alicia D. Nicholls$*On October 29-30, 2024, I had the honour of representing the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (SRC) of The University of the West Indies...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*Brazil’s Presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), held under the theme “Building a Just World and Sustainable Planet,” comes to an end in December 2024. The G20 is a coalition of the...
Avinash Persaud$*We finally have a Fund for Responding to Climate-related Loss and Damage. Now, we must scale it up. Climate-related loss and damage are over $100bn per year and rising. Passing around...
Nafesha Richardson$*The Caribbean’s maritime lifeline is under threat. As global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensify, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is at the...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*News of the passing of Sir Shridath last week continues to reverberate through the highest echelons of diplomatic and political spheres across the Caribbean and world. For his...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*As a teenager I had the pleasure of spending several summers as a Junior Curator (JC) at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. As a JC, I assisted with the installation of...
Vanessa Mason$*On June 6, 2024, I was part of Cohort 21 from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Master of Sciences Programme in International Trade Policy (MITP), which embarked on the annual...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*The inaugural Gender Equality Forum (GEF) held on May 25-26 in Antigua and Barbuda was a monumental event organized by the UN Women Multi-country Office (Caribbean) and the...
Alicia Nicholls$*This past week, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) jointly hosted by the Government of Barbados and United Nations Trade and Development...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*As global trade complexities surge in response to sustainability challenges like climate change, economic disparities, and the pressing need for resilient value chains, Caribbean...
Emmana Jeffers$*In January 2024, the Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, went on a diplomatic mission to Ghana to explore areas of cooperation with that country’s Vice President, Dr...
Kamisha Redhead$*In the face of an escalating global climate disaster, global supply chains play a critical role, accounting for more than 60 percent of overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from...
Alicia Nicholls$*The World Trade Organization's (WTO) upcoming 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), takes place from February 26-29, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), against the backdrop...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*As the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) approaches, its once lackluster agenda has been infused with new life. This biennial assembly of the highest body of WTO Members...
Alicia Nicholls$*It is the start of a new year; one filled with promise coupled with uncertainty amidst a growing climate crisis, a forecasted deceleration in global growth and escalating geopolitical...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*The Dubai team preparing for 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) promised that it would “Unite. Act...
Adiella Lewis$*From 30-31 October 2023, Heads of Governments, delegates, private sector representatives, and other key stakeholders from Africa and the Caribbean gathered in Georgetown, Guyana for the...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Nikola Simpson$*As one of Earth’s most valuable natural resources, the ocean – which covers 70 percent of the planet, absorbs 90 percent of heat from global warming, sequesters...
Adiella Lewis$*On its website, the World Trade Organization (WTO) describes its annual as its largest outreach event, designed to provide a platform to discuss the latest developments in global trade...
Kamisha Redhead$*My biggest self-improvement decision to date was applying for the Masters in International Trade Policy (MITP) Programme at the Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies'...
Alicia Nicholls$*Ministers, as well as delegates from partner organizations, gathered in Barbados on June 14-16, 2023 for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Ministerial Conference on...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*In a region with 15 full member states, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is comprised of numerous borders ranging from 10 land borders and 37 maritime boundaries. Simply put, a...
Russell Campbell$*At the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference held in February 2023, regional leaders received the Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, PC, MP. The...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*As a co-lead of the Remaking the Global Trading System for a Sustainable Future Project (The Remaking Trade Project), I had the privilege last month to take our “trade and...
Adiella Lewis$*As a Barbadian national, interning at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo Egypt following the completion of my Master’s in International Trade Policy at the University...
SRC Women’s In Trade Awardee Amb. Gail Mathurin Author: The SRC hosted its 2nd Annual International Women’s Day Lunchtime Chat on March 3rd, 2023 in early commemoration of International...
Alicia Nicholls$*Writing in an SRC Trading Thoughts back in May 2020, the author Joel K. Richards presciently posited that the COVID-19 pandemic, which was then still in its early days, provided the...
Chelcee Brathwaite$*When seeking to boost trade capacity, national and regional investment in skills and education is not always front of mind. However, the International Labour Organisation...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*It was not so long ago, in March 2022, that Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados went to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva seeking concrete answers on how the WTO...
Winter is coming! And not in the Game of Thrones sense. The big news in currency markets on Monday, September 26, 2022 was the British pound (GBP)’s record slump against the United States dollar...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*When the curtain fell last week on the inaugural Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) 2022 hosted jointly by the Afri-Eximbank and the Government of Barbados, spirits...
Remorno Hamilton$*Pursuing the Masters in International Trade Policy offered by the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services at the University of the West Indies Cave...
Alicia Nicholls$*Much of the trade policy world released a collective sigh of relief when on June 17 it was announced that ministers and delegates at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s Twelfth...
Alicia Nicholls and Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*For geographic purposes and statistical convenience, the Caribbean sub-region is often subsumed under the umbrella of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*Whatever one might think of the politics of the Ninth Summit of the Americas due to take place 6-10 June in Los Angeles, one thing is incontrovertible: for CARICOM leaders, the...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*Forty-nine years ago, regional Prime Ministers agreed to the establishment of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Since then the region has had numerous successes and advancements...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*The last time I wrote this column, my simple advice was to brace for impactmajor disruption to your yuletide season. In an effort not to sound repetitive, my advice now is to...
Nikolai Layne and Chelcee Brathwaite$*In our first piece titled: Leveraging Web 3.0 to Boost Trade & Investment in the Orange Economy we explored how Web 3.0 developments like smart contracts, asset...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*At a time when all is not well with international economic relations, a message of inclusiveness, equity and morality in trade appears to have resonated strongly in a room at the...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Tonni Brodber$*It would be remiss not to highlight important strides made recently to advance the trade and gender agenda in CARICOM: Under the incoming Presidency of Barbados...
Misha Lobban Clarke$*At bilateral negotiations held between President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, at the margins of the UNCTAD...
Chelcee Brathwaite and Nikolai Layne$*A decline in tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic reminded the Caribbean of their need for economic diversification. An area for consideration is the “orange”...
Alicia Nicholls$*Services providers – whether lawyers, accountants or IT professionals - know all too well the non-negligible costs and high regulatory barriers encountered when seeking authorization...
Wayne Mc Cook$*The World Trade Organization (WTO) approaches its 12th Ministerial Conference (of Ministers responsible for trade) with its centrality in the Multilateral Trading System (MTS) assured...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*Approximately nearly 18 months since the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States were disrupted by the Covid-19 Pandemic, we can now look back and examine the lessons learnt...
Jan Yves Remy and Chelcee Brathwaite$*On the side lines of the UNCTAD XV Conference hosted by Barbados on 3-7 October 2021, a growing courtship between Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley and...
Alicia Nicholls, Jan Yves Remy and Kai-Ann Skeete$*In October 3-7, 2021, Barbados not only successfully hosted the Fifteenth Quadrennial Conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and...
Chelcee Brathwaite$*The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured that it can’t be business as usual – more firms are leveraging digital solutions for business continuity, online labour markets are becoming more...
Alicia Nicholls and Leisel Juman$*By the time the World Trade Organization (WTO) holds its Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) in November this year, Members hope to have finally reached a...
Jan Yves Remy and Kaycia Ellis-Bourne$*On 14 July 2021, the European Union (EU) released its long-awaited proposal for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which will serve as the EU bloc’s...
Matthew Wilson$*The following is an adapted article from talking points delivered by esteemed panelist Mr. Matthew Wilson at the August 5, 2021 Shridath Ramphal Centre event on 'Facilitating private...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*At the invitation of the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, I recently participated in a vibrant session of the Caribbean Economic Forum entitled “Putting People at the...
Tara Leevy$*Over the past decade, global health issues, and questions about the impact of international trade on global health have taken centre-stage. The diverse nature of health-related conflicts...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*With the announcement of the upcoming retirement of Ambassador Irwin LaRocque in August 2021 as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General (SG), this author waited with...
Alicia Nicholls$*Although in recent years, Caribbean governments have accelerated their diaspora engagement efforts, the diaspora as a development actor remains under-harnessed. This SRC Trading...
Nwadike Bacchus$*As a freshly minted graduate and alumnus of the Masters in International Trade Policy (MITP) Programme at the UWI Shridath Ramphal Centre (SRC), Cave Hill Campus, I anticipated that...
Chelcee Brathwaite$*Youth unemployment, defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as persons aged 15-24 seeking but unable to find a job, is a global crisis. According to the ILO, more...
Nand C. Bardouille, Ph.D.$*Having not met in five years, the United Kingdom-Caribbean Ministerial Forum (hereafter Ministerial Forum) that met on 18 March 2021 for the tenth time was a meeting of many...
Junior Lodge$*On March 17, inst. Pascal Lamy, the former EU Trade Commissioner and WTO Director-General delivered the inaugural Henry Gill memorial lecture. The event was aimed at memorialising the...
Dr. Ronnie Yearwood & Alicia Nicholls$*At a Covid-19 press conference held on February 15, 2020, it was mentioned in passing that the Government of Barbados (GOB) was exploring the creation of a free...
Dr. Gianni Avila & Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*The Common External Tariff (CET) is a critical component of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), one of the oldest regional integration arrangements among...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*Former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill who led Britain through World War II is credited as saying “never let a good crisis go to waste.” It is with these words that I...
Stefan Newton$*Economic and human activity depends on the use of energy. The Industrial Revolution was made possible by harnessing the power of fossil fuels to service manufacturing, transport, and...
Chelcee Brathwaite$*Barbados’ tropical temperatures, year-round sunshine and award-winning beaches undeniably create a natural comparative advantage luring millions of tourists. Recording its third...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*January is the time for making New Year’s resolutions and as the month draws to a close (already!), I want to squeeze in my wish list for the region’s top five trade negotiating...
Alicia Nicholls$*2020 was one of the most disruptive years in recent memory for global trade and the rules-based multilateral trading system. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a sharp contraction in...
Jan Yves Remy and Mustaqeem De Gama$*Through its Resolution WHA73.1 of 19 May 2020, the World Health Organization recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has a disproportionately heavy impact on the...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Alicia Nicholls$*Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, are among the twelve predominantly small states and dependencies included on the...
Leah Crag-Chaderton & Nicholas Lazarus$*On October 28th 2020, at a Heads of Delegations (HOD) meeting, Ambassador David Walker recommended that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala be appointed as the new...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Chelcee Brathwaite$*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...
Shineco Sutherland$*Caribbean news was recently abuzz with Barbados’ plan to remove the Queen as its Head of State, which would signal a severing of some of the last vestiges of its legislative...
In Its Race For Director-General, Will The WTO Make History Or Her-Story? Author: By Leah Crag-Chaderton & Nicholas Lazarus Just three weeks after Roberto Azevedo officially demitted office as...
David Gomez and Alicia Nicholls$*Caribbean economies, like others around the world, have been negatively impacted by the on-going novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The International...
Alicia Nicholls$*Incumbent World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General (DG) Mr. Roberto Azevedo’s recent announcement of his resignation a full year before concluding his second term of office...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*The report issued this week by the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the Australia Tobacco Plain Packaging dispute might be remembered because it is the final...
Chelcee Brathwaite$*COVID-19 is shifting more activities to online platforms: from board meetings to classrooms, to church services, to local vendors, all are moving online as a result of new social...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*Given the Caribbean’s natural geography, air transportation is a critical component of our regional infrastructure. The Caribbean is heavily reliant on air-transportation to...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*Conceptualised in 1956, LIAT predates the Caribbean Independence movement, although it became operational in 1974. Presently, it is comprised of a mere 10 aircraft, 5 ATR42s with...
Joel K. Richards $*The current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis which originated in China, and which has severely disrupted China-centric value and supply chains, has laid bare the limits of...
Jason Cotton, Jan Yves Remy and Alicia Nicholls$*All of Barbados sat glued to their television sets this Wednesday as CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed Prime Minister, the Honourable Mia Amor...
Tara Leevy$*Businesses will benefit from a series of trade continuity agreements signed between the UK and CARICOM countries, which trade continuity agreements will maintain current arrangements with...
Nick Ashton-Hart$*While it is largely invisible to the public, behind the scenes the biggest change to intergovernmental meetings in our lifetimes is taking place: they’re going online. The outbreak...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*As COVID-19 continues to grip the world’s attention, a consequential new development has crept into the halls of the dispute settlement system at the World Trade Organization (WTO)...
Jan Yves Remy, Chelcee Brathwaite and Alicia Nicholls$*The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is making the global economy sick. Like the pathological disease itself which has been declared a...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Alicia Nicholls$*On 18 March 2020, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) delivered its first Advisory Opinion following a request filed a year ago by the Caribbean Community (the...
Alicia Nicholls$*The majority of World Trade Organization (WTO) Members have this month commenced negotiations to conclude a binding multilateral agreement on investment facilitation for development...
Chelceé Brathwaite$*Over the past 18 months China and the United States of America (US) have been embroiled in a trade
war. That trade war is the result of escalations in tensions surrounding alleged...
Alicia Nicholls$*Some four million people of Caribbean descent live outside of the region, according to data from the United Nation’s Population Division. Persons of Caribbean descent can be found...
Chelceé Brathwaite$*While some still consider AI to be beyond the grasp of developing countries, our South American neighbours have been shattering that stereotype. AI is being deployed in a number...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Alicia Nicholls$*The Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) – the final court charged with hearing appeals on points of law at the WTO – faces an existential...
Diakia Straker$*China’s impressive growth and its reach across the world have sparked some concerns on the international stage and the literature remains divided on China’s motive for its ‘Going...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Alicia Nicholls$*The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will mark another milestone in its decade and a half history when it shortly delivers its first advisory opinion pursuant to...
Neil C.A. Paul$*What is the current situation with respect to Caribbean agriculture? A decimated Windward Islands banana industry, struggling to regain some semblance of the glory days, following the...
Dean C. Forbes, Gabrielle Whitehall and Jan Yves N. Remy$*Today, more than 120 countries have privacy and data protection laws or regulations in place. Many of the new or modernized laws tend to be...
Nia Marshall$*A new Prime Minister is usually synonymous with new beginnings – setting clear economic and social objectives, and then creating a plan for achieving them. But ever since 2016, United...
Dr. Arthur Phillips and Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*Oftentimes, in public discourse, trade and health are presented as opposing factions competing for governments’ attention and priority. Those who ardently...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy and Alicia Nicholls$*This year, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) delivered two substantive rulings in a dispute aptly dubbed by the media as the ‘cement saga’, a reference to a...
Camille Russell$*Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are one of the most controversial areas of science. While their use in certain fields like medicine is accepted, when it comes to their use in...
Camille Russell$*Throughout CARICOM, chicken is considered king. In fact, the region boasts close to 100 per cent sufficiency in eggs and approximately 67 per cent sufficiency for poultry meats...
Ade O’NEAL$*Reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade facilitation, and under-representation by Caribbean States at the WTO were some of the hot-button issues ventilated over the course of...
Dr. Jan Yves Remy$*As the plane climbs above Lake Geneva and I say goodbye again to the Swiss Alps, I reflect on my three-week stay in Geneva accompanying UWI/Cave Hill students enrolled in the SRC’s...
Alicia Nicholls$*Economic and political ties between the People’s Republic of China (China) and the Caribbean as a whole have undergone a substantial deepening in recent years. For both geostrategic...
Neil C.A. Paul$*Over the last few years, the issue of the relevance of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been raised in many quarters of its membership. The WTO, is a system of multilateral trade...
Can CARICOM Afford to Miss the WTO E-Commerce Train? Author: On the sidelines of this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in January at Davos, Switzerland, 76 Members of the World Trade Organization...
Andrea Ewart, Esq.$*On 28th June, 2016, an arbitral tribunal ordered the Government of Belize to pay to the private company of Dunkeld International Investments Ltd. the sum of approximately US $171.2...
Special and Differential Treatment in the WTO: A Caribbean Perspective Author: Special and differential treatment (S&DT), which grants certain preferences and flexibilities to developing countries...
The Case for Accelerating Gender Mainstreaming in CARICOM Trade Policy Author: While we can all agree that trade offers the potential for inclusive and sustainable growth in small Caribbean states...
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete$*On the morning of December 5 2018, citizens of the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Single Market and Economy (CSME) participating Member States woke up to a new, impending reality...
Can CARIFORUM-UK Trading Relations Survive the Clouds of Uncertainty Hanging over UK-EU Relations? Author: Introduction After almost two years of intense negotiations, a deal between the European...
Two Sugars, Please! Author: King Sugar has been the legacy of the Caribbean since its introduction to the region over 300 years ago. In particular, the rich brown crystals extracted from stalks of...
Will current WTO rule-making reform proposals benefit Caribbean Small States? Author: The rules-based multilateral trading system (MTS), institutionalized by the World Trade Organization (WTO), is...
A Regional Trade Agenda for CARICOM Author: The key characteristics of Caribbean trade challenges have been well documented. The region’s economies are open (i.e. external trade as a share of GDP is...
Reducing the Region’s Food Import Bill by sector and by country: Who says you can’t “spot reduce”? Author: With a current Food Import Bill (FIB) in excess of US$4 billion, and projected to increase to...
Barbados’ Repeal of its Fiscal Incentives Act: Necessary Evil or Impermissible Imposition? Author: Amidst much debate, the Barbados Parliament recently voted to repeal the island’s Fiscal Incentives...