by Welcome to the Caribbean Trade & Development Digest for the week of November 13-17, 2018! We do apologise for the delay in this week’s Caribbean Trade and Development Digest, but are happy to bring you the major trade and development headlines and analysis from across the Caribbean Region and the world from the past week.
THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS
Last week was quite a busy week in trade policy news on the regional and international fronts! There was the announcement and release of the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, ended with no joint statement amidst disagreement between the US and China. On the regional front, the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) held its 47th meeting and released a statement in support of the WTO.
REGIONAL
COTED Statement on WTO
CARICOM: CARICOM Trade Ministers, meeting in Georgetown, Guyana, on 15 and 16 November 2018, at the Forty-Seventh Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), re-iterated the Caribbean Community’s support for the rules-based, multilateral trading system embodied in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Read more
Dubai-Caribbean non-oil trade hits $273 million in 2017
Khaleej Times: The value of non-oil trade between Dubai and Caribbean countries totalled $273 million in 2017, according to new data released by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry ahead of the first UAE-Caribbean Cooperation Forum in Dubai. Read more
St Lucia set to launch import substitution programme
St Lucia Times: The Ministry of Agriculture, with the support of the government of Taiwan, will next year begin implementing an import substitution programme for a range of crops in an effort to reduce Saint Lucia’s food import bill. Read more
Guyana, EU to sign pact on forest governance
Stabroek: After around six years of engagements, Guyana and the European Union (EU) are to sign an agreement that will bolster forest governance and address issues such as illegal logging. Read more
China eyes US$10 trillion in imports from Latin America, Caribbean
Stabroek: The Government of the People’s Republic of China is looking to import some US$10 trillion in goods and services from Latin America and the Caribbean over the next five years, China’s Ambassador to Jamaica Tian Qi has disclosed. Read more
Advancing Single Market and Economy pivotal to CARICOM’s future – LaRocque
Stabroek: If CARICOM is to safeguard the region’s interests in the global arena and achieve the objective of improving the lives of its citizens, its most important immediate task is to advance the implementation of the Single Market and Economy (CSME), Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque says. Read more
INTERNATIONAL
APEC summit wraps with no joint statement amid US-China discord
CNN: For the first time in its 25-year history, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit ended Sunday with its leaders failing to agree on a formal joint statement.
Japan initiates WTO dispute complaint against Korean support for shipbuilders
WTO: Japan has requested WTO dispute consultations with Korea concerning alleged subsidies provided by the Korean government to its shipbuilding industry. Japan’s request was circulated to WTO members on 13 November. Read more
WTO Members Prepare to Shift Gears in Fisheries Negotiations
ICTSD: WTO members negotiating a proposed agreement to tackle harmful fisheries subsidies held a second cluster of meetings last week as part of their September-December work programme, hearing reports about brainstorming sessions in “incubator groups” the week before and completing the streamlining of a document consolidating all existing proposals. Read more
Kenya Eyes High Table Seat At Inaugural Intra-Africa Trade Talks
AllAfrica: Kenya is keen to play a lead role in steering intra-Africa trade as the continent meet for the Inaugural Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF) in Cairo, Egypt, next month. Read more
ChannelNewsAsia: China and Singapore have signed a slew of agreements, including the upgrade of a bilateral free trade pact, which will allow greater market access for Singapore companies. Read more
China, Spain, Latin America: A New Growth Axis in Global Trade
World Crunch: Spain, an industralized EU member with close ties to Latin America, could profit from easing the entry of Chinese firms keen to invest in and export to the Americas. Read more
How news media can boost China-Latin America relations
Xinhua: There’s no doubt of the news media’s impact across borders and in fostering relations between countries and entire regions. Nowhere is this more true than in the relationship between China and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC). Read more
WTO working more closely with UK on Brexit
RTE: A senior World Trade Organization (WTO) representative has said the body is watching Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the UK “very closely”. Read more
Trump’s protectionism might just save the WTO
The Washington Post: President Trump is right that the World Trade Organization badly needs reform.Keeping the United States within the WTO should obviously be Plan A. But it would be prudent for other members to start thinking about devising a new international trade organization minus the United States in order to avoid the “my way or the highway” blackmail that has become the American president’s signature negotiating style. Read more
WTO members adopt roadmap for reducing technical barriers to trade
WTO: WTO members achieved a breakthrough at a 14-15 November meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) by agreeing on a list of recommendations that aim at reducing obstacles to trade and improving implementation of the WTO’s TBT Agreement. Read more
Launch of WTO Data Portal
WTO: The WTO launched on Friday 16th November its new online database. The WTO Data portal brings together a wide range of statistical indicators on international trade and other WTO-related information. Read more
US-China Discord Dominates APEC Summit
Jakarta Globe: The United States and China swapped barbs over trade, investment and regional security at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, or Apec, summit on Saturday, as growing fault lines among members suggested little prospect of consensus at the weekend meeting. Read more
India to adopt new approach toward free trade agreements
Japan Times: India is planning to adopt a new strategy toward negotiating free trade agreements even as the country is engaged in talks with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the proposed ASEAN-focused regional free trade area. Read more
Egypt, Eurasian Union to start negotiating free trade agreement
Egypt Today: Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) signed a framework document for negotiations on the free trade agreement between the two sides, as they both decided to hold the first tournament of negotiations in mid- January in Cairo. Read more
India, Mauritius likely to sign free trade pact in January
Hindu Business Line: The proposed India-Mauritius free trade agreement,being given the final touches by negotiators this week, is likely to be signed in January during Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth’s India visit, a government official has said. Read more
The Caribbean Trade & Development Digest is a weekly trade news digest published by the Caribbean Trade Law & Development Blog. Liked this issue? To read past issues, please visit here. To receive these mailings directly to your inbox, please follow our blog.
