|
The
call by CSA President for a multilateral approach to solving the problems of
the Caribbean (2003, May 19) is as interesting as it is important.
Interesting, in so far as this appears to be the obvious approach for a
Region like the Caribbean, yet there has been relatively little success for
initiatives toward this end.
Efforts towards building a powerful West
Indian Federation of former British Colonies failed after a worthy start
when Jamaica, the largest of the countries involved, dramatically pulled out
after a national referendum. To be sure, the WI Federation was up and
running. There was a Federal Parliament over which fluttered the Federal
standard. Many countries of the world hailed this development and Canada was
moved to present the region with two ships. So the Federal Palm and the
Federal Maple sailed the Caribbean, not only as symbols of the high esteem
with which the West Indies Federation was regarded, but also as evidence of
the sort of economic advances which could be made when countries unite.
The West Indies Federation failed, not
because of economic realities; rather, it succumbed to the vagaries of
Caribbean politics and an unfortunate malady which we can now safely call
insularity. This same disease had previously threatened West Indies cricket
but cricket won, perhaps because the politicians were not the ones taking
the lead.
With the fall of Federation came the era of
political independence, when Britain, apparently acting in its own self
interest, turned their former colonies out. Tiny Caribbean islands, with
populations smaller than the average European city, became politically
independent nation states but economically dependent … to a greater or
lesser degree, impoverished. Where previously the yield from their cane
fields and banana plantations could more than supply the needs of the entire
country, while putting healthy profits into the coffers of absentee land
owners, with political independence these countries had to negotiate supply
quotas at prices set by the buyers of their goods.
CARICOM, replaced Carifta, which was itself
no more than a stop gap for dealing with the obvious economic fallout
occasioned by the death of Federation. In establishing Carifta (acronym for
Caribbean Free Trade Area) the regional politicians demonstrated their
recognition that a small number of little islands, scattered across a fairly
large sea, did not individually have the economic power to achieve the lofty
goals they themselves had enunciated when they lowered the Union Jack.
CARICOM, replaced Carifta and provided a wider, more realistic framework for
attempting regionalism.
The CARICOM initiative and the experiences
of regionalism thus far made it further obvious that any attempt at
Caribbean regionalism which excluded the Spanish, French and Dutch countries
was, at the very least, deficient. The establishment of the Association of
Caribbean States was therefore timely and historically significant.
In the interim, other institutions of
Caribbean cooperation were established. Among these were the Caribbean
Development Bank. The private sector also established its own associations.
The Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) is one such body.
All this makes the CSA President’s call an
interesting one, coming after all that was attempted over the last 45 years
or so.
Of course, there have been many successes
gained from Caribbean collaboration. Perhaps the most recent, if not the
most significant, was the Caribbean Village promotion, where Caribbean
cruise destinations come together for a joint promotional effort. And even
as I write this, initiatives continue for the establishment of a Caribbean
Court of Appeal to replace the United Kingdom Privy Council as the Region’s
final arbiter. Yet, the level and extent of Caribbean collaboration needed
to deal with the economic realities of today’s world is nowhere near the
desired mark. It is therefore important that a call emanates from the podium
of the Caribbean Shipping Association urging a multilateral approach to
problem solving.
According to the CSA President, while
addressing the opening plenary of a CSA conference in Miami, Florida: “…the
economic outlook for the Caribbean region increasingly calls for the
adoption of a multilateral approach to overcome a number of hurdles, some of
which are directed at us while some indirectly affect our region’s
prosperity.” In this regard, he mentioned specifically: threats to tourism;
oil price increases and likely effects on production; loss of margins or
preferential treatment for “critical export commodities”, among other
things.
It is important that, as a Region, we think
and act as a single economic entity. Even while maintaining our cultural and
political identity, it is possible to collaborate in exploiting the economic
opportunities that the Caribbean region and the world offer. Within the
region we have access to the brains, skills and experience necessary to make
a success of development. We are, to be sure, short on capital and, apart
from cruise ship business and tourism, it has been difficult to gain access
and, having done so, to secure our niche in the markets of the world.
However, we do have the resources and a certain uniqueness on which we can
build development. But, we need to put far greater urgency on starting and
completing the tasks that are necessary.
GREATER SENSE OF URGENCY ESSENTIAL
Caribbean Latin American Action held a
regional business conference (2003, April 1 & 2) in Barbados on the
“Competitiveness of the Caribbean”. Participants felt (… in fact they
declared a ‘shared conviction’ … ) that a “greater sense of urgency” was
essential for improving the Caribbean’s competitiveness. To be sure, the
slow pace at which our multilateral institutions have approached the
business of regional development, have made them appear to many as
irrelevant and even anachronistic. Perhaps, multilateralism shares space
with bureaucracy. Bureaucracy must aid not retard the process and therefore
the matter of how to make multilateralism work becomes itself an issue.
At the Barbados conference, the country’s
Prime Minister, Owen Arthur gave a Caribbean perspective of critical issues
facing the region and he addressed issues of trade relations. In this
regard, he hailed the Free Trade Area of the Americas as "one of the most
momentous economic developments in the history of mankind." Meanwhile, the
leading U.S. representative, Undersecretary of International Trade of the US
Department of Commerce, Grant Aldonas called upon the region to develop and
take advantage of its competitive strengths - its natural assets and
educated work force.
In addition to the keynote addresses, Dr.
Rolph Baglobbin of the University of the West Indies and Arturo Conde of
INCAE provided a micro perspective of the Caribbean region, including a
detailed and realistic outlook of the obstacles the region faces. Dr.
Baglobbin summarized the results of the roundtables as centering on "the
need for a concerted effort across and amongst all of the critical
stakeholder groups in our countries… to think of the Caribbean as one
region, a single region," and the need for action.
It is important that we pool all our
energies, wisdom, experience, skills and resources to solve our collective
problems. It is important that we review, and where necessary, modify and
expand our strategies in order to exploit the many opportunities which
abound and to deal with the problems and hurdles we face as a Region. It is
important that, instead of worrying about who moved our cheese, that we use
unity and a multilateral approach to find new cheese. We cannot allow
insularity and sluggish bureaucracy to undermine and frustrate the process.
We just don’t have the time.
Mike Jarrett is Director of
Information and Public Relations for the Caribbean Shipping Association.
|
|
