CARICOM-ALBA-Foreign ministers undecided on ALBA

 

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) foreign ministers emerged from two-day talks here without a formal position on the implications of the Venezuelan-led Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).

 

To date Dominica is the only CARICOM member state to sign on to the trade and cooperation arrangement being promoted as an alternative to the United States driven Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

 

The Hugo Chavez initiative was one of the topics addressed as the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) met in Antigua this week.

 

Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, who is also the chairman of COFCOR, said the ministers engaged in extensive discussions on the matter and concluded that they were not in a position to come to a joint position on ALBA.

 

He said however that the council was able to gain a better understanding of the initiative.

 

“We took time out to clarify our understanding of the ALBA having had the benefit of a study which looked at the implications of ALBA membership for CARICOM member states.

 

“Arising out of that we were able to conclude that with the information on the paper presented on ALBA that there does not appear to be conflict between the agreement signed by Dominica and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas,” the COFCOR chairman said.

 

The paper, prepared by Professor Norman Girvan, Professorial Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Graduate Institute of International Relations, will be forwarded to the Heads of Government for consideration at their upcoming summit in July.

 

According to Spencer, information suggests that the ALBA agreements entered into are flexible in order to meet the needs and obligations of individual participating states.

 

“More importantly, the ALBA seeks to promote the development of people thereby making it attractive to developing countries which require support for their economic development,” he said.

 

He added that it was found that ALBA’s establishment of a bank with an authorised capital of US$2 billion with a starting capital of US$1 billion to support social and economic development, the reduction of poverty and strengthen of the integration process presents a new opportunity for financing projects in the Caribbean, particularly for those with no access to Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funds.

 

“We also recognise that within this context, the principled foreign policy pursued by CARICOM member states has allowed the region to maintain a balance in beneficial relations with strategic partners in the wider region,” Spencer said

 

According to the official communiqué, ministers agreed that member states were urged to pursue and explore all opportunities available to them for their social and economic development, recognising at all times their obligations under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

 

CMC/ak/bm/08