[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Commonwealth is seeking to establish a trade facility that would benefit Caricom countries.
Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma, who held talks with Caricom’s Chairman Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said that the facility would provide incentives to small states, what larger economies enjoy.
Sharma said his talks with Gonsalves focused on economic issues, trade, the environment and disaster response. It was planned to coincide with the Caricom inter-sessional summit that has been postponed to March 10-12.
He said the discussions also included solvency, liquidity, and debt-sustainability. Sharma highlighted that while the question of poverty is extremely important, sustainability, resilience and vulnerability must also be emphasised.
The Secretary General added that the issue of trade has two components: market and productive capacity.
Sharma said the commonwealth wants the idea of capacity building to be expanded substantially as regards the environment.
The Indian National also announced that his country will donate US$500,000 each to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia, and US$300,000 to aid in the recovery of the Christmas 2013 floods.
