They came from 16 countries in the Greater Caribbean region: 112 enterprises and business organisations ready to talk and do business with each other and with 150 Mexican companies. They came from several manufacturing sectors: principally food and beverages, hardware and building materials, pharmaceuticals, leather and footwear and auto parts.

The occasion was the 2^nd Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean hosted by the Mexican foreign trade bank BANCOMEXT in Mexico City October 22-24. The goal: to promote intra-Caribbean trade and investment by facilitating direct contact among firms and trade and investment agencies. 

The region already boasts a network of bilateral and sub-regional trade and common market agreements: CARICOM has signed trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba; the Dominican Republic has another with Central America; most Central American countries have agreements with Mexico; Mexico has one with Colombia and Venezuela. Yet, as the Mexican Vice Minister for International Economic Relations Miguel Hakim pointed out to the Forum, only 7 percent of the foreign trade of ACS countries is with one another.

The ACS would like to see total intra-trade doubled from its present annual level of $30 over the next 5-10 years, with an emphasis on greater exchange between the islands and the mainland, and among the different language zones and existing sub-regional groupings: CARICOM, Central America, the Group of 3 (Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela), and the non-grouped countries.

Firms from the non-independent countries are also showing great interest in doing business with their Caribbean neighbors. Puerto Rico, the Netherlands Antilles and Martinique all sent strong delegations to the Forum. The Netherlands Antilles and Martinique (through France) are Associate Members of the ACS and Puerto Rico wants to join.

To meet this goal several things are necessary. Besides trade liberalization, which is already well advanced, non-tariff barriers and other obstacles to trade need to be reduced. The ACS is conducting a study on obstacles to trade and the upcoming ACS Summit will be asked to approve a series of actions to address this situation.

Secondly, shipping services within the Caribbean basin need to be vastly improved as regards availability and cost. At present much of the intra-trade of the region is carried out through the Port of Miami, and the necessity for transshipment adds to the cost. An ACS project to set up a Port and Maritime shipping data base will facilitate better utilization of regional services so that costs can be lowered. But participants were also encouraged by news of a joint venture organised by a Venezuelan and a Cuban shipping enterprise that aims to reduce cargo rates within the region by an average of 20 percent.     

The joint venture is one example of the benefits that can flow from business contact within the region. This is a third ingredient necessary for expanded intra-trade and is the chief aim of the ACS Business Forum. Trade agreements provide the framework, and transport facilities supply the infrastructure, but at the end of the day it is the business of business to make agreements work.

The Forum in Mexico City was a tangible expression of the ACS cooperation with the private sector and of Mexico’s interest in the region. Forums are already scheduled for Costa Rica in 2002 and Cuba in 2003 and several firms and trade promotion organisation declared that they have started their planning to take full advantage of these events. 

(Ends)

Prof. Norman Girvan is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS.