Climate Change, Citizen Security, Migration, Financial Services key focus at EU-CELAC Summit: CARICOM Chair

I wish to stress the issue of citizen security and the adjunct to that public policy issue: the education and training of our young. I have said this many times before. There is a sense of hopelessness; there is a problem with joblessness among the young, both here and in our regions, which we must address. If we ignore it, we do so at our peril.

…we continue to be disturbed by the disconnect between our European partners and ourselves over the state of the financial services sector. There is a continued role for places that manage wealth. Privacy is still a virtue and the right to private property and to manage one’s money is an ancient right. In the pursuit of tax policies, this right to privacy seems to have been eroded. Countries, in their zeal, have imposed unfunded mandates which have caused untold hardship in our countries that were and are engaged in an honest enterprise with fair tax competition. This has now become in some quarters a moral negative. We do not agree that it is. We deplore the attempt to destroy this sector. We again ask our partners to take note.

CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Rt. Hon. Perry Christie,speaking at the EU-CELAC Summit, Wednesday.

See the Chairman’s full statement:   EU_CELAC_Summit_CARICOM_Chairman’s_Statement