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Caribbean seeks help with financial crisis |
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Caricom heads discussed with American
President Barack Obama the impact of the
financial crisis on the small democracies of the region and sought special
considerations for small countries seeking international help.
That's
the word from Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Sunday April 19, 2009 following the mid-April Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
The Caribbean
heads of government and President Obama discussed the security issues affecting the Caribbean, particularly relating to drug trafficking.
Golding says President Obama has given a
commitment to strengthen the level of
regional support in this endeavour.
According to Prime Minister Golding, the
American President has initially indicated an allocation of U.S. $30 million to
help in strengthening security surveillance in the Caribbean
region.
The Jamaican Prime Minister said Caricom
heads discussed with President Obama the need for special arrangements to be
implemented for Caribbean countries to enable
them to compete globally.
Such arrangements include strengthening the capacity as well as the
competitiveness of the small Caribbean
countries without the need for them to sacrifice their social security programs
such as poverty reduction strategies.
On the political front, Prime Minister
Golding said he was encouraged by President Obama's frankness and transparency
regarding the resolution of the over five decade-old impasse between the U.S. and Cuba.
Prime Minister Golding who said he was
mandated by CARICOM to do so, discussed the need for the free trade arrangement
with Canada
to be asymmetrical. By that he meant,
giving the small Caribbean countries a longer
period to adjust to trade liberalization, similar to what was negotiated within
the European Union.
Golding said Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper indicated that this was
something the Canadians were willing to discuss with the Caribbean.
Prime Minister Harper also indicated the
provision of an additional sixteen hundred scholarships for the Caribbean and Latin America
- ten percent of which will go toward Caribbean
nationals.
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