CARICOM Chair Urges Resumption Of Work On CSME

Declaring that the Region can do better together, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chair, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, has called for a resumption of work on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). In a New Year’s message, Mottley declared that full CSME implementation must be central to CARICOM’s mission. “We paused our coordinated actions on this noble but critical mission as we applied all that we could muster to fight COVID and its trail of economic and social upheaval. But five years on, we must resume our work on the CSME,’ she stated. Mottley declared that the CSME is not merely an economic agenda. “It is a vision of unity and opportunity for small states who know that we can achieve so much more together than we do so individually. Full realization of the CSME, including above all else, yes, the free movement of our nationals is essential for unlocking the true potential of our people and our economies,” the Barbados Prime Minister asserted. Mottley also spoke of the necessity for CARICOM to attain and go beyond its food and nutritional security target, best exemplified by the “Vision 25 by 2025” agenda set in 2021. The initiative commits CARICOM...