During that meeting, several co-operation instruments were signed, among which emphasis was placed on the Strategy for Uniting the Caribbean by Air and Sea, since transport was undoubtedly the common denominator for the development of the other subject areas of the Association, namely Trade, Tourism and Natural Disasters.

In recent years, there have been various transport initiatives within the hemisphere that were unsuccessfully established and failed to take root in the different integration schemes toward a globalised environment.

For its part, the Strategy for Uniting the Caribbean by Air and Sea is still a vibrant initiative, with a broad perspective and several projects to be developed.

In the area of Maritime Transport, the sector has had to deal with a series of changes with respect to the implementation of procedures and technologies related to port and vessel security, and in reviewing the achievements made by the majority of the countries of the region regarding this challenge, we can say that the advancements are absolutely positive. Although this effort has required great attention, there still remain within the sector, countless initiatives and projects geared toward rendering the operation more efficient, with the intention of being increasingly competitive, not only in terms of the quality of services offered outside the region, but to be prepared within intra-regional competitive schemes.

One of the most significant projects included in this strategy is that on the Maritime Port Database, since it will examine port facilities as well as cargo, for the purpose of increasing the trade flows of the region and thus improving the cost of maritime transport in the Caribbean.

Some of the initiatives and projects still maintained by the strategy and which are in the process of being implemented are the “Creation of the Maritime Port System of the Greater Caribbean” (Maritime Corporate Image), “Database of Problems and Proposed Solutions regarding Regional Maritime-Port Activity” and the reformulated project on the “Creation of a Coordinating Centre for Research, Consultation and Training to the benefit of ACS Member Countries”.

In the area of Air Transport, there have been significant advancements with respect to the signing of the Multilateral Air Transport Agreement, which already has 50% of the signatures of all Member States and Associate Members, and they have not prevented the Multilateral Agreement from serving as a reference framework in regional bilateral agreements to liberalise the provision of air transport services.

The aforementioned Agreement is of prime importance these days, when we constantly hear that air transport service providers are encountering financial problems, or that numerous travellers have been left stranded or have had to wait many hours or days in some airport within the region.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not peculiar to the region since it also occurs regularly within the hemisphere and around the world. As a result, the ACS has taken up the task of preparing a User Booklet containing the rights and obligations of the individual utilising the service.

With every day that passes, this strategy for Uniting the Caribbean by Air and Sea is becoming stronger and more important for the countries of the region.

Mr. Carlos Dávila Sánchez is the Director of Natural Disasters and Transport of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org

15 March, 2005