Category: CARICOM

CDB seminars to focus on resilience, air transport, blue economy

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment
Daniel Best, Director of Projects, CDB. (Photo via CDB)

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will bring together government officials, experts and thought leaders for three interactive seminars during the 48th Annual Meeting of its Board of Governors in Grenada. Discussants will address three topics: building resilient cities; the blue economy; and regional air transport during the events, which are scheduled to take place on May 30 and 31, 2018, at the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort.

After a devastating 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the Bank designed the Meeting to include a forum for discussing ‘Building Resilient Cities’. The seminar will provide a preview of the Bank’s Urban Sector Policy and discuss solutions to, and progress made in addressing the Region’s urban sector challenges.

Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, will deliver an opening keynote address, which will be followed by a panel discussion. The discussion will be chaired by Gabby Crane, Team Lead, Regional Development Banks, United Kingdom Department for International Development. She will be joined by panellists Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson, Premier, Turks and Caicos Islands; Dr. Janice Cumberbatch, Lecturer, University of the West Indies; Leonard Francis, Director, Spatial Planning Division, National Environment and Planning Agency, Jamaica; and Cavon White, Operations Officer, CDB.   (more…)

Two CARICOM Member States removed from EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment

Friday, May 25, 2018 — EU Council removed the Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis from the EU’s list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

The EU’s list is contributing to on-going efforts to prevent tax fraud and promote good governance worldwide. It was established in December 2017.

“Having fewer jurisdictions on the list is a measure of the success of the listing process”, said Vladislav Goranov, Minister for Finance of Bulgaria, which currently holds the Council presidency. “As jurisdictions around the world work to reform their tax policies, our challenge for the rest of the year will be to see that their commitments have been correctly implemented.”

The list is contained in annex I of conclusions adopted by the EU Council in December 2017.

The Bahamas and Saint Kitts and Nevis have made commitments at a high political level to remedy EU concerns. EU experts have assessed those commitments.

Read more at: Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

CARICOM Member States becoming increasingly important trade partners for Belize

Michelle Nurse Leave a comment
(Photo via The Reporter)

Although the USA and the UK are said to be Belize’s top trading partners, the biggest declines in export sales so far this year were recorded for those destinations. Meanwhile, CARICOM countries are becoming increasingly important trade partners for Belize, particularly as they are now buying more of Belize’s main exports. All of the crude Belize sells now goes to Barbados, although exports were down for the first quarter.

The Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) has published details on its website. The data indicates that of the nearly $23 million in export earnings Belize garnered from CARICOM for the first three months of the year, $8.7 million was from Barbados, $7 million from Jamaica and $5.9 million from Trinidad and Tobago. However, there was a fall in earnings from all three countries, with the most substantial decline in monetary value being for exports to Barbados.

Trinidad and Jamaica both buy sugar, and orange and grapefruit concentrate from Belize. In addition to the citrus concentrate juices, Barbados buys crude oil from Belize. Citrus concentrate juices are also the main domestic export which Guatemala takes from Belize.

Read more at: The Reporter