MAY 27TH, 2017 – JUNE 3RD, 2017
VOLUME 13 - NO. 21
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‘HIRE MORE WORKERS FROM THE CARIBBEAN’
s the Turks and Caicos Islands continues to grapple with the controversial issue of work permits, the country is being strongly encouraged to hire more workers from the Caribbean instead of going outside of the region. The call came from one of the Caribbean’s top economist, Dr. Warren Smith, president Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), while he was addressing the 47th Annual Meeting of the bank’s Board of Governors, at the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex, Providenciales. Dr. Smith indicated that many Caribbean countries were only paying lip service to freedom of movement, where people from Caribbean countries can work in neighbouring territories without a work permit. He said: “In 1995, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government finally agreed to the free movement, and consequent elimination of the need for work permits for a limited group of skilled workers, that is, Selective Free Movement. Over twenty years hence, where is our Region today?” “A recent report by the CSME
Unit noted that a total of ten categories of persons now have the right to seek employment in other CARICOM member states without the need for a work permit. While legislation in the 12 CSME participating countries have all recognised the categories specifically identified in the Revised Treaty (Article 45), to date only Guyana and Jamaica have fully included the ten categories of workers in their respective Skilled Nationals Act.” Dr, Smith added: “In addition to the failure to enact the requisite legislation, there is the reality of a scarcity of skilled workers in the Region to meet labour market needs. As such, regional companies are forced to fill vacancies with workers from outside of the Region, through the work permit regime. There is, therefore, urgent need for closer alignment between our Region’s education system and the skills’ requirements of the business community.” Dr. Smith noted that as the Caribbean region faces the threat of some of our traditional development and trading partners turning inwards, the Caribbean can mitigate that risk
by turning outwards. “ This strategy is based on the premise that a closer embrace of CARICOM opens up the prospect for increasing trade, foreign exchange earnings and employment opportunities, principally for our trained young people. The attractiveness of this strategy is substantiated by the achievements of several large, medium and small Caribbean enterprises, which have grown their businesses by moving cross-border to other regional and international markets,” he said. However, he added, for this strategy to work, the arrangements which are enshrined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas have to be perfected. “Most of the CARICOM jurisdictions have enacted the provisions to remove over 450 legal and administrative barriers that initially stood in the way of the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour in the Region. The reality, though, is that the mere removal of restrictions doth not a single market make!” the CDB president added. “ First, the removal of such
restrictions has not resulted in a sufficiently meaningful improvement in market access. This is because fundamental challenges still remain in the application of rules of origin, trade facilitation, the Common External Tariff, non-tariff barriers and the resolution of disputes. Second, the Movement of Factor Act, which removes barriers to the rights of establishment, has not been enacted in many member states. The establishment of a single jurisdiction to allow for the equal treatment of business entities across CARICOM has also not been implemented.” He noted that these are important mechanisms for supporting the development of regional enterprises by removing requirements for alien landholding licenses, for example, and eliminating the need for registering a CARICOM business in every jurisdiction in which it wishes to operate. Such actions add to the cost of doing business, both in terms of time and monetary value. They also hamper the extent to which some CARICOM businesses can penetrate regional markets.” Continue on Page 2
Turks and Caicos Islands host CDB’s 47th Annual Meeting
T
he Turks and Caicos Islands successfully hosted the 47th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Approximately 500 delegates attended the meeting, which took place between May 24 and 25, 2017, at the Gus Lightbourne Auditorium in Providenciales. (See Pages 24 and 25 for photos)