For the second time around, CARICOM has committed to economic ties with the Republic of Cuba with the signing of the second Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement, at the opening of the 45th regular session of the Council for Trade and Economic Development held at the Marriot Hotel, Georgetown.
This is according to a report from the Department of Public Infrastructure [DPI].
The first trade and economic cooperation agreement was signed back in July 2000 and provided for, among other things, the promotion and expansion of trade in goods and services by means of free access to the markets of the Parties; elimination of non-tariff barriers to trade; the establishment of a system of Rules of Origin; and the harmonisation of technical and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures.
The agreement signed Thursday between CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque and Cuba’s Ambassador to CARICOM, Julio César González, seeks to expand the preferential market access into each other’s market and signals the prospects for even stronger and more profound trade and economic ties.
According to the CARICOM Secretariat, the Protocol is a further demonstration of the commitment of both sides in advancing the trade and economic relationship that was established many years ago, providing possibilities for investment.
The Protocol also seeks to imbue in the CARICOM private sector, in particular, an urgency to access the Cuban market utilising the preferences provided under the original Agreement itself.