GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque says 2014 promises new directions for the 15-member regional integration movement as it seeks to deliver more immediate and tangible benefits to the people of the Caribbean.
In his end-of-year message, the Dominican-born LaRocque said 2013, which marked the 40th anniversary of Caricom, underscored the determination and commitment of the region to forge a common destiny as small unified states in this unique corner of the world called the Caribbean.He said the anniversary theme of “Celebration and Renewal” remained relevant “as we bask in our Caribbean-ness, rekindle the spirit of community and continue our integration quest with an outlook that is shaped by new thinking and different approaches”.He said that outlook would be influenced by the necessity for appropriate responses to the current global environment which has placed member states in dire straits, stymieing growth and development and denying the Caribbean the wherewithal to create a better standard of living for the people of the region.“Indeed, the vulnerability of our member states and their capacity for resilience came into stark relief last week in St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and Dominica, when severe weather visited death and destruction and caused a setback to development efforts there,” said the secretary general.The weather system has also been blamed for the deaths of 15 people so far and governments of these three Caribbean countries say they would require hundreds of millions of dollars in the rehabilitation exercise.La Rocque said that the new outlook would also be shaped by the review and reform of the integration movement being undertaken at the request of regional governments, adding “we are on schedule to achieve early in the new year one of our key milestones — the completion of the draft Five-Year Strategic Plan”.The plan was crafted following consultations with stakeholders across the region and sets out a common vision, identities priority areas of focus over the period and also addresses issues of implementability including the roles and responsibilities of all participants in the community’s architecture.“Unsurprisingly, sustainable economic growth and development emerged as one of the primary areas of concern for stakeholders across the spectrum with whom the Change Team interacted over the past year, and it is our intention, through the efforts of the recently established Caricom Commission on the Economy, to explore possible avenues to put us on a sustainable path,” La Rocque said.He said the commission would provide advice on implementable solutions based particularly on the priority areas set out in the Caricom growth agenda.“For the Caribbean Community, therefore, 2014 dawns with the promise of new directions, prioritisation on the critical areas that will deliver more immediate and tangible benefits to our peoples, more strategic approaches and the continued emphasis on our youth and empowerment of our citizens,” he added.var s = document.createElement("script");
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Caricom secretary general optimistic about region"s future
