Six-month passport stamp to be implemented next week
-travel card will not compete with machine readable passports
Georgetown, GINA, July 6, 2007
Guyanese travelling to other Caribbean countries will have their passports stamped for six-months starting from next week. This announcement was made by President Bharrat Jagdeo today at a press conference.
However, the President said this will only be possible once there is no law that will prevent Guyana from putting the system in place.
“We will be implementing the system where persons travelling to countries in the region passports will be stamped for a six- month period. By next week once there is no law that will prevent us from doing so we will implement it,” President Jagdeo said.
Meanwhile, the Head of State said it must be made clear that the CARICOM travel card which will carry the same six-month period will not be put into practice until the Heads agree on a date of implementation. The Heads are scheduled to meet in September at the inter-sessional meeting.
At the 28th CARICOM Heads of Government Summit held in Barbados from July 1-4, the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community agreed on the implementation of a CARICOM travel card that will be issued to every CARICOM national except those on the Community’s watch list.
However, as Guyana prepares to implement the machine readable passport system President Jagdeo is optimistic that the travel card system will not compete with the machine readable passport.
“The travel card will only be used for the region. There wouldn’t be any major competition, but rather an addition because people will still need to use their passports to go to other countries out of the region,” President Jagdeo said.
The travel card will feature facial and finger printing biometrics and will be made available at a cost yet to be determined. The funds acquired from the card will go towards the CARICOM security architecture.
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Towards a Single Economy: course charted, many challenges to be overcome for success
Georgetown, GINA, July 6, 2007
The road to be traversed by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states towards its destination of a Single Economy in 2015 is one with many challenges and for it to be successful much work at the policy, legislative, taxation and fiscal levels must be undertaken.
At the recently concluded 28th Heads of Government Summit of Regional Leaders in Barbados Professor Norman Girvan’s report, Towards a Single Development Vision and the Role of the Single Economy according to Guyana’s Head of State has been adopted as a road map to the Single Economy.
Back from the three-day meeting President Jagdeo at a Press conference today at his Office offered a local response to the decisions and commitments emanating from the high-level Regional meeting.
“As you are aware we have worked very hard to put the Singe Market component into place that was easy, that was the first phase of the CSME but to get to a Single Economy it requires sustained action guided by a strategic plan and very tough decisions on the part of the Heads of the Community, and the people and leadership…of CARICOM.”
The Head of State conceded that achieving a single economy will prove challenging but commitment and a coordinated approach might prove adequate to remedy the problems that may persist in the course of its implementation.
“This will not be easy. We have several countries in our community and a Single Economy requires a high-level of coordinated action supported by Community Law so that countries are going to be bound by those actions,” he expanded.
He said the successful journey to the CARICOM Single Economy requires among many things: a single currency.
“The single economy comes into being within a monetary union…Europe took several years to introduce the Eruo but to have a common currency there has to be a lot of work put in place and strict adherence to the framework set out, a framework that requires States to be transparent and to meet certain criteria.”
Cardinal too, he stipulated, is the formation of a common taxation policy. “You know how difficult it is because our economies are structured differently we would have to find some modality to coordinate taxation without causing at the same time a shock to revenue or a disadvantage to economic activities.”
Next he expanded on the need to have a common investment framework as this too is very diverse owing to the geographic and other considerations that impact upon the sector.
In Guyana for instance where a large natural resources base exists, the country’s policy would be very different than sister island States in the Caribbean in which Tourism is a main economic sector
He said, “So as we get to the details of greater coordination of policies in these areas it’s going to present a significant challenge to our Community.”
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CBC supports need for more private sector, government cooperation
- President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, July 6, 2007
The Caribbean Business Council (CBC) during a meeting with CARICOM Heads at the 28th CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Barbados supported the need for the private sector and governments of the Caribbean to have more cooperation.
“They (private sector) are quick to speak about our governance like Parliamentary process but when we talk about cooperative governance they go quiet because this means paying tax and complying with security regulations… but I am pleased that the leadership of the Caribbean Business Council has recognised the need for this type of cooperation,” President Bharrat Jagdeo said today at a press conference.
The Head of State pointed out that he now wants both the media and government of Guyana to focus more on cooperative governance.
CBC members and CARICOM Heads also recognise the need for a more democratic private sector in the region.
“The leadership has a very realistic view of the private sector in the region. Prime Minister Owen Arthur specifically spoke about democracy in the private sector. The many private sectors don’t have strong credentials, they are often hijacked by special interest in many countries. I hope that in Guyana this issue will be followed up,” President Jagdeo said.
The issue of free movement of CARICOM nationals was discussed extensively and the Heads of Government agreed to monitor the free movement of skills of nationals in a more logistical manner and that each territory will provide statistics on the number of skills certificates issued as against the number accepted as well as those rejected. Reasons for rejections should also be forthcoming.
The objective of this measure will be to identify the trend regarding the free movement of skilled CARICOM nationals within the community. The CARICOM leaders have also agreed to look at reducing the powers of immigration officials.
The Heads of Government in an effort to achieve the goal of the regional integration process to enhance the well-being of all the Caribbean people agreed on several initiatives at the Conference.
Crime and security, health, education, agriculture, human and social development, telecommunications, and transportation were some of the focus areas.
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Donors pledge US$10M for revitalising Region’s agriculture
- President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, July 6, 2007
Revitalising and resuscitating the agricultural sector to regain its place as a significant Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and foreign exchange earner has become a focal point of the Region. At the 28th meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) an update was given on the Agriculture Donor Conference held June 2.
The Conference was expected to yield renewed and added financial and technical support for the agricultural thematic areas and the supporting projects, which it did.
“We looked at the issue of agriculture I presented a report on what happened at the Donors conference. The Conference was very pleased with the outcome of the Donors conference. We got US$10M in pledges. We now have to follow up so I urge that we strengthen the follow up mechanism,” Lead Head of Government for Agriculture, President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed today at a press conference.
Discussed at the Conference organised by Guyana, but staged in Trinidad and Tobago were the major challenges facing the Region’s agriculture sector which include: inadequate infrastructural development, technology transfer and food security and the need for increased investment in the sector to enable its expansion and diversification towards sustainability and international competitiveness.
The conference was held against the background of the launch of the CARICOM Single Market (CSM), the imminent establishment of a framework policy for the Single Economy in 2008, and eroding preferential access for traditional agriculture crops.
For the role of the agriculture sector to be stabilised and concretised, President Jagdeo stressed the need for Heads of State to first recognise the importance of the sector and give impetus to its development through implementing special initiatives.
He said, “The report was accepted and we had pledges from Heads to work with us closely on the investment conference which will be coming up.”
The Communiqué issued following the Heads Summit said, “The Conference, in reaffirming support for the hosting of a follow-up Investment Conference in November 2007 recognised the significant role of the Private Sector in agriculture development and mandated that they be involved from the planning stage.”
It further states that the Conference expressed appreciation to the donors, particularly Italy, Spain, the European Union and FAO, who made an initial pledge for the implementation of the Region’s agricultural development programme.
The Donor’s conference for many signalled the beginning of another stage as partnerships were deepened between the Region’s governments, donors and international and regional agencies.
The Jagdeo Initiative ‘Strengthening Agriculture for Sustainable Development’ formed the basis of talks during the meeting.
The initiative which has garnered regional support as a sure way of transforming the state of the agriculture sector, seeks to alleviate binding constraints to the development of the sector and create the enabling environment to encourage a revival of investment in agriculture, facilitating the transformation process.
Agriculture is among Guyana’s leading productive sectors contributing over 30 percent of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually, 30 percent employment and 40 percent of export earnings. Its contribution to other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries is quite similar and the current external threats facing the industry require a consolidated approach to agriculture’s diversification, enhanced competitiveness and sustainability.
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