Business
Jamaica and CARICOM: An uneasy “marriage”?
Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller (r) Welcomes CARICOM Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque. PHOTO/File
Amid an escalating trade war between Jamaica and Trinidad &Trinidad — two of the English-speaking Caribbean’s largest economies, a frustrated former Jamaica commerce minister suggested what was once unthinkable: that his country consider leaving the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) regional trade bloc.
(More: Jamaica will not leave CARICOM: – Secretary General Irwin LaRocque)
“We should not support the notion of CARICOM forever; it must be CARICOM for as long as it satisfies Jamaica,” Karl Samuda said during a recent budget debate. Jamaica’s leaders have said the country is unlikely to leave CARICOM anytime soon, but the debate illustrates the larger challenge facing the regional bloc almost four decades after Caribbean leaders re-created the EU-like integration movement to allow for the free movement of goods, services and skilled labour across the geographically fragmented region.
Still, the future of the regional bloc will be a key topic as Caribbean leaders begin their annual meeting Wednesday in St Lucia.
