The Hon. Leslie Miller, Minister of Trade and Industry, said Monday evening that while The Bahamas is participating in Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks in collaboration with CARICOM, Bahamian negotiators have been instructed that in instances where it is in the interests of The Bahamas to adopt a divergent view from that of the Caribbean Community, they must speak on behalf of the Bahamian government and people to safeguard the rights of The Bahamas as a sovereign and independent nation.
Minister Miller spoke at a town meeting on The Bahamas and the FTAA at the Nassau Beach Hotel. The guest speaker was the Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), economist Dr. Richard Bernal.
Joining Minister Miller and Dr. Bernal on a panel were Mr. Raymond Winder, president of The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Keith Glinton, chamber vice-president and country manager of Esso; Mr. Rick Lowe, a businessman; and Mr. Hillary Deveaux, chair of the FTAA services group.
Also present was a resource panel. Its members were Mr. Franklyn Kemp, lead representative of the government procurement group; Mr. Godfrey Eneas, chairman of the FTAA consultative group on agriculture; Mr. John A. Rolle, Comptroller of Customs and lead representative of the group dealing with subsidies, anti-dumping and countervailing duties; and Mrs. Helen Ebong, acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and lead representative on the smaller economies group.
Moderated by Mr. Darold Miller, the public town meeting was aired live on Channel 11 and Radio Bahamas ZNS 1 1540 A.M. Mr. Miller is the deputy general manager for news and current affairs at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.
Minister Miller referred to last Novemberﾴs Seventh Ministerial Meeting of the FTAA in Quito, Ecuador. He said that at that session, CARICOM was successful in retaining the chair for the services group; Mr. Hillary Deveaux, acting general manager of The Bahamas Securities Board, was reappointed to that post.
CARICOM also secured the vice-chairmanships of the negotiating groups on competition policy and the consultative group on smaller economies. “Clearly,” Minister Miller said, “CARICOM and, more specifically, The Bahamas, continue to play an active and effective role in ongoing FTAA negotiations.”
He said CARICOM was encouraged by President George Bushﾴs commitment to provide $140 million in funding to countries participating in the FTAA talks with technical assistance for capacity-building.
Ministers of trade were also encouraged by a proposal to establish a Hemispheric Co-operation Programme to provide financial and technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of countries taking part in the FTAA process, he said.
Minister Miller said Dr. Bernalﾴs presence was indicative of the co-operation that exists among Caribbean nations, and the high level of expertise the region has focused on the FTAA negotiations.
The director-generalﾴs presence also pointed to “the critical importance” that governments throughout the Caribbean region, including that of The Bahamas, attach to working in collaboration and in a unified effort to ensure that in designing the FTAA, any final agreement would take into account the differences in levels of the development and sizes of the economies of the Western Hemisphere, particularly small island economies such as The Bahamas, he said.
In relation to the pace of the negotiations, the general perception was that the United States would make every effort to accelerate this in an effort to conclude them before the next U.S. presidential election in November, 2004. The accelerating pace of the talks will place “tremendous pressure” on small economies, such as The Bahamas, to implement any obligations under the proposed agreement and to participate effectively in the ongoing negotiations, Minister Miller said.
In recognition of this, he added, the government of The Bahamas appointed The Bahamas Trade Commission composed of 25 members drawn from ever sector of the economy, with representatives from Abaco and Grand Bahama. Mrs. Wendy Craigg, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and Mr. Raymond Winder, accountant and businessman, co-chair the committee.
Minister Miller again advised his audience, both those at the hotel and those listening and watching on radio and television, not to panic over the FTAA process.
By Bahamas Information Services
