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| St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister and Minister of Finace and Chairman of the COFAP Meeting, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas (l) speaks to reporters in the lobby of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Tuesday afternoon. |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, FEBRUARY 1ST 2006 - Ministers of Finance from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have agreed to further discuss the implementation and operations of the Regional Development Fund (RDF).
"We have a window of six months, until the 30 June," St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, told reporters in the lobby of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel as he left the meeting for the Norman Manley International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
The St. Kitts and Nevis leader, who chaired the First Special Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP), until his departure told reporters that finance ministers agreed that the fund has to be established.
"We have received the technical report from the team that had been headed by the President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Dr. Compton Bourne. It has provided quite a bit of information for us to move forward on the establishment of the fund. We have agreed that although the exact option for financing of the fund is not yet determined, we must, however, establish the fund and it has to be done within the six month-period that is being given for the OECS to come on board (the CSME)," Dr. Douglas said.
The OECS countries have called for the establishment of the Regional Development Fund to assist them to overcome any economic difficulties their participation in the CSME may have on their individual economies.
Dr. Douglas told reporters that the fund is important for the OECS.
"It is important for the disadvantaged countries and so it is critical, if we are to move forward in terms of preparing for the transition and transformation of those economies and sectors that would have become disadvantaged in accessing membership of the CSME, that the funds be there to help us through that period," said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados have pledged US$10 million towards the fund although initial estimates had suggested that the fund be established with a pool of more than US$200 million.
The CDB report looked at the financing and operations of the fund at different level. The initial contributions that were mentioned by Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago and now Jamaica are not the final contribution of these countries to the fund.
"We believe, however, that it is important to start with these initial amounts and more in order to create what we call the platform for this fund to be established so that we could go out to other possible donors asking for the other assistance in moving this initiative forward," PM Douglas said.
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| Officials attending the First Special Meeting of the Council on Finance and Planning (COFAP) chaired by St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas. |
The COFAP Meeting was also attended by Prime Ministers Owen Arthur of Barbados, Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, Dr. Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia, Sam Hinds of Guyana and Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
St. Kitts and Nevis' Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris and Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr. Calvin Edwards also attended the meeting.
The Regional Development Fund is identified in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and is intended to provide financial or technical assistance to those countries, regions and sectors which are determined to be adversely affected by the operation of the single market.
The revised treaty defines a disadvantaged country as those in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Belize which have all been classified as Less Developed Countries (LDC).
Member states that may require special support measures of a transitional or temporary nature due to: natural disasters; the adverse impact of the CSME on their economies; and temporarily low levels of economic development or have been designated a Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPIC) have also been included in the category of Disadvantaged Countries.
The Finance Ministers were also scheduled to discuss the manner of operation and management structure of the petroleum fund that has been established to cushion the effect of high oil prices on member states.
The use of these funds would be for poverty alleviation, implementation of disaster prevention or mitigation measures and disaster recovery in emergency cases. The fund, a proposal from Trinidad and Tobago, was agreed to in May 2005.
The Ministers were also expected to advance work on the implementation structure for establishing an integrated capital market in the community.
