CARIFORUM Director General Alexis Downes-Amsterdam (fifth left, front) and Paul Whittingham, Head of Trade for Development of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK (sixth right, front) with meeting participants.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana--The Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States CARIFORUM and the United Kingdom (UK) have reaffirmed their commitment to fully implementing and ratifying the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in 2021, according to a press release from the Caribbean Community CARICOM Secretariat.
A Communiqué issued after the inaugural meeting of the CARIFORUM-UK Technical Sub-Committee on Development Cooperation (TSCDC) from January 30 to 31 in Georgetown, Guyana, notes that officials from both sides discussed areas of mutual interest, such as leveraging market access offers, tariff commitments, enhancing trade in goods and services, and initiating regular tourism services dialogue.
The meeting, held at the CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters, also reviewed recent UK trade policy developments affecting the Agreement, the Communiqué states.
Recognising the EPA’s importance to their economic and development partnership, the parties discussed high-priority market access challenges as well as what needs to be done to ensure the objectives of the agreement can be achieved, the release states.
In noting the EPA’s potential to increase trade and investment, it was agreed that they would prioritise actions to overcome the obstacles hindering CARIFORUM States from effectively entering the UK market. The parties also addressed the UK's market access concerns in CARIFORUM States, according to the Communiqué.
CARIFORUM and UK officials examined the EPA's role as a development-focused agreement, with the UK reaffirming its commitment to financial assistance, aligned with CARIFORUM’s priorities.
They also highlighted the significant milestones since the agreement's provisional application in 2021. These include putting into operation joint institutions such as the Joint CARIFORUM-UK Council, the Special Committee on Services, and the Technical Sub-Committee on Development Cooperation, according to the release.
The meeting, chaired by the United Kingdom, was attended by representatives from Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; The Bahamas; Dominica; the Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; the UK and Northern Ireland. Haiti was represented at the meeting as an Observer, the release concludes.
