Despite the preferential trade agreements between the Caribbean and other countries over the years, the region is still slow to reap the benefits.
Furthermore, Minister of Industry, Small Business and Rural Development Denis Kellman said those agreements have not resulted in more exports for the region.
Adding that most Asian countries were successful in developing an export diversification strategy and decreasing their reliance on imports, Kellman suggested that Barbados adopt some of those countries’ best practices.
“The successful development of a country usually involves accelerated growth of new activities in sectors such as manufacturing and non-traditional agriculture, along with services,” he said.
“Despite trade preferences, and some might say because of them, the Caribbean’s integration into the world economy has been slow and compares poorly with some Asian countries with similar levels of integration, which they have created some 30 years ago,” said Kellman.
“In other words, while these unilateral preferential trading arrangements were established as developmental tools to stimulate and diversify Caribbean exports, anticipated results have not been forthcoming,” he added.
Kellman added that according to a recent report from the World Bank and Organization of American States (OAS) in collaboration with CARIFORUM governments, the Caribbean share of world trade was declining while countries such as Thailand’s and Malaysia’s were increasing.
“Weakness in access and poor infrastructure, together with poor labour productivity, has resulted in relatively high production cost compared to those of Asian countries.
“It nevertheless acknowledged that trade liberalization and enhanced market access have not been sufficient to expand trade in many low-income countries,” he said.
His comments came during the FINPYME Export Plus roundtable discussion on best practices for export at the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill School of Business last Thursday.
