Business View Caribbean | Volume 9, Issue 3

11 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 Heads of Government stressed the need for the continuation of public health measures including masks, testing, isolation and quarantine and supported CARPHA’s recommendations for safe and sustainable air and sea travel to protect the Region. Heads of Government noted the challenges in achieving desired levels of vaccination. They therefore agreed to mount a regional campaign to combat the disinformation that encourages vaccine hesitancy. Heads of Government agreed to explore a regional strategy for manufacturing vaccines in the Region. CARICOM SINGLE MARKET AND ECONOMY (CSME) Heads of Government agreed that implementation of the CSME is the Region’s best option for responding to the current development challenges and for building a more resilient Region. They further agreed that immediate urgent action on CSME implementation was imperative. In that regard they endorsed the Action Plan for an Effective CSME and proposals for immediate action involving the Organs of the Community, Cabinets and Ministries of Member States, stakeholders, particularly the private sector, and the CARICOM Secretariat to hasten implementation. Heads of Government adopted and opened for signature the Protocol to Amend the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy to allow Enhanced Cooperation among Member States and to address Related Issues. They agreed that Suriname would assume the portfolio of Industrial Policy in the CARICOM Quasi-cabinet of Heads of Government. Heads of Government also agreed to review the governance systems within the Community to facilitate more effective decision-making and to ensure follow-up on the Community agenda. They requested that urgent attention be given to the strategy for development of the energy sector including the CARICOM Energy Policy (both in respect of fossil fuels and renewables) as well as to address the issue of local content. Heads of Government established an Open- Ended Working Group on Local Content for Sunrise Industries with core membership from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. They also agreed that the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) would participate in the Working Group. They mandated the Secretariat to undertake further work on identifying ten major non-food items imported into the Region for which there is production capacity and potential and significant demand considering that these could constitute priority products for investment and trade within the Community Heads of Government agreed that early decision-making as well as cross-sectoral inter- agency regional and national actions were needed to support the economic recovery and transformation of CARICOM Member States. They therefore agreed to resuscitate the CARICOM Economic Recovery and Transformation (CERT) Working Committee under the guidance of Prime Minister Mottley, to serve as a clearinghouse for the many recommendations being tabled and to guide the economic recovery and transformation process in the Community. They also agreed that the Working Committee would be open-ended, with core membership comprised of The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB); and would be coordinated by the Secretary-General. They further agreed to include the President of the Caribbean Development Bank, the Chief Executive Officer of the CARICOM Development Fund and the Chair of the CARICOM Commission on the Economy as members of the Committee. OPENING L INES