OECS seeks greater access to Canada's multi-trillion dollar market
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OECS seeks greater access to Canada's multi-trillion dollar market |
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Contact: Kerwin Xavier
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 – Saint Lucian; Private and Public sector officials are presently meeting to deepen their understanding of the proposed CARICOM Trade and Development Agreement.
The two-day consultation is jointly organized by the Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, along with the OECS Secretariat and the CARICOM Secretariat' s Office of Trade Negotiations.
“At the moment we do have an arrangement with Canada called CARIBCAN under which goods from CARICOM enter Canada on concessionary terms,” LDC Trade Policy Advisor within the CARICOM Secretariat' s Office of Trade Negotiations, Vincent Atkins.
“However CARIBCAN is due to end by the end of this year. Importantly, the CARIBCAN was limited mainly to trade in goods. The new arrangement which we are negotiating will include trade in services.”
Presently there is a trade imbalance between Saint Lucia and Canada. Imports from Canada is valued at 17 million dollars while exports stand at just about half a million dollars. The development component within the agreement is geared at correcting such imbalances.
“It is important to bear in mind that the Canadian economy is a trillion dollar economy as a result opportunities exist for increased exports from Saint Lucia into Canada. We are hoping therefore that with the agreement the kind of arrangements which we negotiate will facilitate greater entry of Saint Lucian and OECS and far wider CARICOM goods into the Canadian market.”
Similar exercises are planned for other CARICOM territories. It is hoped that these consultations will provide feedback to the CARICOM Secretariat's Office of Trade Negotiations for inclusion in the final agreement. |
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