CARICOM seeks to tout advantages of single market – CSME

The Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, on Friday, said it will host a series of public education programs regarding the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of nationals across the 15-member grouping.
The CSME also involves the free movement of goods, skills and services.

In a statement, the CARICOM Secretariat said it will be hosting a series of public sensitization sessions on the facilitation of travel within the CSME.

“The first of these will be held in Dominica on Friday, September 9, and a wide cross-section of the public is expected to attend. The other sessions will be held later in Guyana and Jamaica,” the Secretariat said.

It said that the public sensitization exercise will cover the provisions for free movement and travel under the CSME regimes such as those for CARICOM skilled nationals and the Right of Establishment. The aim is to inform CARICOM citizens of their rights and responsibilities as they move within the CSME for reasons related to employment, leisure or business. Members of the public will also be apprised of the CARICOM Complaints Procedure if they feel that they were hindered from accessing their rights under any of the regimes.

According to the Secretariat: “At the end of these sessions, participants should be better informed about the provisions for free movement and how to make use of them as Caricom nationals,” the Secretariat said, adding that “this public awareness activity is part of a larger public education strategy to promote the CSME as an important platform for achieving the goal of regional integration and an improved quality of life for all citizens of the Caribbean Community”. -(CMC)