by Welcome to our Caribbean Trade and Development News Digest covering the week of April 16-22, 2023! We are pleased to bring you the major trade and development news headlines and analysis from across the Caribbean Region and the world from the past week. We do hope you enjoy this week’s edition!
What’s new on the blog? This week’s blog piece differs a bit from our usual trade-related content but focuses on a topic which is very much en vogue at the moment in the region, that is, diaspora voting. Should the Caribbean diaspora vote in national elections back home? My co-author Kevon Edey of KevzPolitics and I discuss this. Have a read here!
THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS!
Foreign ministers from CARICOM and India met this week for the 4th CARICOM-India Ministerial Meeting. The remarks from Jamaica Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith may be read here. Caribbean Export held its 2nd Annual Results Report this week. The report may be accessed here.
Foreign ministers from The OECS Business Council (OBC) and the Caricom Private Sector Organization (CPSO) have entered into a new cooperation agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). See more here: http://prez.ly/nPwc.
REGIONAL NEWS
CARICOM to further deepen relations with India
Jamaica Gleaner: Incoming chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council on Foreign and Community Relations, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith says she remains confident that Friday’s discussions between India and Caricom officials “will be fruitful and reflect the spirit of cooperation that defines Caricom-India relations”. Read more
uS$2 billion fuel bill stokes record trade deficit
Jamaica Observer: The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) in its latest release on the country’s external trade position show total imports reached US$7.1 billion over the 11 months, January to November 2022, up 31 per cent. The value of exports rose as well, going up 23 per cent to US$1.6 billion, as fuel shipped to other countries was valued twice as much as the year before. Read more
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
How implementation committees are moving the African free trade area from talks to action
WEF: A fully implemented African Continental Free Trade Area would transform economies, raise African gross domestic product by 9% and reduce poverty by 50 million. It could also be a catalyst for further changes and attract investment from within Africa and beyond. Read more
AfCFTA: Remove visas, reduce customs process to ease logistics
East African: The umbrella bodies of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) private sector have called for the removal of visas and reduction of custom processes to ease movement of goods within the African continent. Read more
Germany backs EU-Indonesia trade pact to curb China reliance
AP: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that he will press for a trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia as part of his country’s efforts to reduce its reliance on China for crucial raw materials. Read more
UK Trade Minister in US to sign fourth trade pact with a US state
UK.gov: Nigel Huddleston is in Washington to deepen UK-US trade ties and secure two wins that will boost jobs, investment and exports across the Atlantic. Read more
US-led Pacific Framework might see results this year: USTR
Nikkei: Talks to hammer out the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) are making “very good progress,” and could see tangible results as early as this year, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Thursday. Read more
STRAIGHT FROM THE WTO!
NEW ON THE CTLD BLOG
The Caribbean Trade & Development Digest is a weekly trade news digest produced and 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 subscribe to our Blog below:
