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CARIBBEAN REGIONAL
>> Regional Overview >> Caribbean Regional Overview Introduction
For the United States, the Caribbean constitutes our "third border." Its future will inevitably affect us. Its close proximity and importance as a tourist destination mean that unemployment, weak judicial systems, environmental degradation and natural disasters in the Caribbean directly affect the United States' well-being. The United States is committed to completing the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process by 2005 in order to expand markets for U.S. goods and services and help insure safe destinations for U.S. foreign investment. The U.S. is also concerned about narcotics trafficking in the region. The continued cooperation of Caribbean governments in drug interdiction and combating money laundering is a major U.S. policy objective. That cooperation is affected by the efficiency of legal systems and the ability of Caribbean governments to sustain effective efforts in the face of economic hardships and loss of traditional sources of income. Ensuring safety of U.S. tourists and stemming illegal immigration is another area of continuing U.S. concern. Deterioration in economic, social or political conditions in these small countries is leading to increased crime and increased illegal immigration to the United States. These U.S. foreign policy interests are reflected in the 1997 Bridgetown Barbados Summit accord, signed by President Clinton and Caribbean leaders. The Bridgetown Summit commits the United States and signatory Caribbean nations to a Plan of Action in the areas of trade and economic development; the environment; and justice and security. The Caribbean Regional Program responds to U.S. commitments and responsibilities under the Plan of Action.
The Development Challenge
The primary development challenge in the Caribbean is generating substantially higher rates of sustainable broad-based economic growth. These small island nations have small domestic economies and depend vitally on export revenues and tourism for growth. Most have received preferential trade status from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union. Such treatment has distorted investment in the region toward those industries that received preference, particularly bananas and sugar. As these preferential trade regimes are dismantled, serious displacements will occur. In countries such as St. Lucia and Dominica, these displacements will be substantial. The removal of trade preferences is compounded by the fact that these small island countries do not have adequate capacity to carry out policy and regulatory analysis required for implementation of FTAA and World Trade Organization (WTO) trade standards.
Heavy reliance on relatively few exports and tourism products and the relatively high costs of transportation and telecommunication services has further constrained growth, as has cumbersome and time-consuming bureaucratic red tape. Breaking into new export markets continues to be difficult for small and medium-sized Caribbean producers. Trade in services provides real opportunity for expansion, if bottlenecks are eliminated and modern information technology is adopted. Highly trained labor is often unavailable, and governmental red tape limits the private sector's ability to take full advantage of opportunities in the world marketplace. Even in the critically important tourism industry where comparative advantages are apparent, growth has been constrained by intense regional competition and the need for infrastructure investment.
Environmental problems arise from inadequate and inappropriate waste management, land use practices and coastal zone management. Most of the countries offer environmental services to some of their residents, but proper land use practices are often not used, and coastal zone management suffers from inadequate planning, regulation and enforcement. Services are offered free of charge, posing a financial burden on the governments' fiscal balances and contributing to inadequate and unsustainable services and regulations. Discussions with environmental partners point to a need to share information on environmental management best practices to consolidate and improve policy/regulatory reforms in the region. Greater environmental investment is critical, especially within the tourist industry, and there is consensus on the importance of strengthening compliance with existing environmental laws and regulations, broadening the role of civil society, and improving public reporting on environmental issues.
Large civil and criminal backlogs exist in virtually all the Caribbean countries. Better information management, procedural and organizational reforms are needed to streamline court and registry procedures and improve efficiency of the legal system. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms including negotiation, mediation, and arbitration, could, if properly developed and used, handle certain types of cases now contributing to court system congestion.
The Caribbean Regional Program also recognizes the special needs of small island nations in dealing with hurricanes and tropical storms which periodically wreak havoc in the Caribbean. The destruction caused in September 1998 by Hurricane Georges in St. Kitts & Nevis and Antigua & Barbuda is being addressed under a two-year special objective focused principally on restoring hospital services in St Kitts & Nevis and enhancing local capacity for disaster mitigation.
Other Donors
The other major donors providing support in the Caribbean region are the European Union (EU), the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), including the Multilateral Investment Fund and the Caribbean Development Bank. Canada and the U.K. are the major bilateral donors. With the start-up of the Caribbean Regional Program, the U.S. will rank as the largest bilateral donor in the Eastern Caribbean.
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Last Updated on: December 12, 2000 |
