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17 April 2009 - David Jessop
As this is being written, the fifth summit of the Americas is about to begin in Trinidad. Although this hemispheric event had as its theme, ‘Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability,’ it is already clear from conversations with some of those attending, that they expect its outcome to reflect new hemispheric and global realities.
When the conference agenda was first conceived in early 2008 the global financial crisis had not taken hold; the US Administration was dominated by individuals who still saw the hemisphere through the optic of the cold war; Brazil, India and China were outside the G7, the small group of economically powerful nations trying to direct the global economy; the US had not accepted the need to accommodate the rising global power of China; and the so called ‘Washington consensus’ on economic liberalism was the prevailing philosophy.
Astonishingly, all this has changed in the last nine months. A US President who believes in dialogue, multilateralism and mutual respect has arrived in the White House; the global economic system has experienced a near collapse; the Washington consensus has been pronounced dead; the G7 has all but been replaced by a G20 that includes Brazil and other emerging economies; the US has indicated that it regards China as an equal; and China has made clear, albeit with some reticence, that it will play a global role that in part embraces a clearly stated policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean.
As this is being written, the fifth summit of the Americas is about to begin in Trinidad. Although this hemispheric event had as its theme, ‘Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability,’ it is already clear from conversations with some of those attending, that they expect its outcome to reflect new hemispheric and global realities.
When the conference agenda was first conceived in early 2008 the global financial crisis had not taken hold; the US Administration was dominated by individuals who still saw the hemisphere through the optic of the cold war; Brazil, India and China were outside the G7, the small group of economically powerful nations trying to direct the global economy; the US had not accepted the need to accommodate the rising global power of China; and the so called ‘Washington consensus’ on economic liberalism was the prevailing philosophy.
Astonishingly, all this has changed in the last nine months. A US President who believes in dialogue, multilateralism and mutual respect has arrived in the White House; the global economic system has experienced a near collapse; the Washington consensus has been pronounced dead; the G7 has all but been replaced by a G20 that includes Brazil and other emerging economies; the US has indicated that it regards China as an equal; and China has made clear, albeit with some reticence, that it will play a global role that in part embraces a clearly stated policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean.
01 April 2009 - David Jessop
Washington is a city of think tanks, each vying to influence policy.
These financially well-endowed bodies produce reports, hold conferences and organise events aimed at developing thinking on a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. Although they argue that they do so for the greater good of society, the reality is that their role is to influence and help form policy.
Typically they also provide a temporary home for the senior policy staff in-waiting for an incoming US administration or provide a location out of which those demitting office can operate. They range in their political persuasion from the far left through the centre to the far right, but are for the most part associated informally with one or another of the two main US parties.
Thus the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) and the Hudson Institute function as a think tanks for the Republicans exercising considerable influence both before and during the administration of President George W Bush. While others such as Brookings or the small Center for a New American Security played are playing a central role with the Obama Administration.
Washington is a city of think tanks, each vying to influence policy.
These financially well-endowed bodies produce reports, hold conferences and organise events aimed at developing thinking on a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues. Although they argue that they do so for the greater good of society, the reality is that their role is to influence and help form policy.
Typically they also provide a temporary home for the senior policy staff in-waiting for an incoming US administration or provide a location out of which those demitting office can operate. They range in their political persuasion from the far left through the centre to the far right, but are for the most part associated informally with one or another of the two main US parties.
Thus the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) and the Hudson Institute function as a think tanks for the Republicans exercising considerable influence both before and during the administration of President George W Bush. While others such as Brookings or the small Center for a New American Security played are playing a central role with the Obama Administration.
18 March 2009 - David Jessop
When Jamaica’s Usain Bolt effortlessly won the one hundred metres in the August 2008 Beijing Olympics, it became a defining moment of an event that cemented China’s global presence in the minds of hundreds of millions of people around the world.
That it involved a citizen of the Latin American and Caribbean provided an unexpected bonus to Beijing at a time when it was finalising its policy towards the region and Latin America.
In November, China released its first policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean. It did so just days ahead of a Latin American tour by its President, Hu Jintao, aimed at deepening ties with the region.
The Chinese President visited Costa Rica, Cuba and Peru. Subsequently in February of this year, the Chinese Vice President, Xi Jinping, visited Jamaica, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Chinese Vice Premier, Hui Liangyu, travelled to Argentina, Ecuador, Barbados and the Bahamas. The timing and level at which the three visits took place, demonstrated China’s intent to fully engage in carefully differentiated ways in the Hemisphere.
According to the Director-General of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, Yang Wanming, the paper had taken a long time to prepare, draft and revise.
When Jamaica’s Usain Bolt effortlessly won the one hundred metres in the August 2008 Beijing Olympics, it became a defining moment of an event that cemented China’s global presence in the minds of hundreds of millions of people around the world.
That it involved a citizen of the Latin American and Caribbean provided an unexpected bonus to Beijing at a time when it was finalising its policy towards the region and Latin America.
In November, China released its first policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean. It did so just days ahead of a Latin American tour by its President, Hu Jintao, aimed at deepening ties with the region.
The Chinese President visited Costa Rica, Cuba and Peru. Subsequently in February of this year, the Chinese Vice President, Xi Jinping, visited Jamaica, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Chinese Vice Premier, Hui Liangyu, travelled to Argentina, Ecuador, Barbados and the Bahamas. The timing and level at which the three visits took place, demonstrated China’s intent to fully engage in carefully differentiated ways in the Hemisphere.
According to the Director-General of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, Yang Wanming, the paper had taken a long time to prepare, draft and revise.
13 March 2009 - David Jessop
In a few weeks time the President of the United States, Barack Obama, will attend the Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
Since his inauguration, expectations have been rising about a new US relationship with the Caribbean. Sadly, there is in this a large measure of wishful thinking. While no one should deny that the arrival of a popular first black President is important for the Caribbean both perceptually and emotionally, the expectation of any dramatically changed relationship fails to recognise the very different concerns about the world and the hemisphere that the Caribbean and the US have.
Having spent much of the last week in Washington, it is clear that there is a need to manage Caribbean popular expectation downwards about the substance of the summit and to look more specifically at the ways in which subsequent meetings will determine how the region’s future relationship with the United States will develop.
The US relationship is for the most part positive if low key. While there are contentious issues such as the future of offshore financial centres and other vital questions relating to security, Haiti, Cuba, migration, debt and trade, to say nothing of the global economic crisis, relations between the US and the nations of Cariforum are normal and unremarkable.
A few months ago - seemingly missing the message of President Obama’s foreign policy statements on the hemisphere while on the campaign trail - a number of senior figures in the region suggested that President’s Obama’s election to the White House would mark a new engagement with the Caribbean.
In a few weeks time the President of the United States, Barack Obama, will attend the Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
Since his inauguration, expectations have been rising about a new US relationship with the Caribbean. Sadly, there is in this a large measure of wishful thinking. While no one should deny that the arrival of a popular first black President is important for the Caribbean both perceptually and emotionally, the expectation of any dramatically changed relationship fails to recognise the very different concerns about the world and the hemisphere that the Caribbean and the US have.
Having spent much of the last week in Washington, it is clear that there is a need to manage Caribbean popular expectation downwards about the substance of the summit and to look more specifically at the ways in which subsequent meetings will determine how the region’s future relationship with the United States will develop.
The US relationship is for the most part positive if low key. While there are contentious issues such as the future of offshore financial centres and other vital questions relating to security, Haiti, Cuba, migration, debt and trade, to say nothing of the global economic crisis, relations between the US and the nations of Cariforum are normal and unremarkable.
A few months ago - seemingly missing the message of President Obama’s foreign policy statements on the hemisphere while on the campaign trail - a number of senior figures in the region suggested that President’s Obama’s election to the White House would mark a new engagement with the Caribbean.
09 March 2009 - StabroekNews
CARICOM trade ministers are urging a development dimension in scheduled trade talks between CARICOM and Canada, the CARICOM Secretariat has said in a press release.
At a special meeting of CARICOM’S Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) which ended here Monday night, the ministers were especially insistent on the need for any agreement to have a strong development aspect, given the impact of the current global financial and economic crisis on the region.
The ministers also agreed to recommend for approval by the CARICOM Heads of Government the brief presented by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).
CARICOM trade ministers are urging a development dimension in scheduled trade talks between CARICOM and Canada, the CARICOM Secretariat has said in a press release.
At a special meeting of CARICOM’S Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) which ended here Monday night, the ministers were especially insistent on the need for any agreement to have a strong development aspect, given the impact of the current global financial and economic crisis on the region.
The ministers also agreed to recommend for approval by the CARICOM Heads of Government the brief presented by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).
02 March 2009 - David Jessop
The global order is changing. Driven by the economic crisis, the gradual drift of economic power away from the developed world is accelerating as quite literally the wealth of nations changes, altering with it global relationships and the exercise of power. Within a decade, this will have significant long-term implications for Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is at its most apparent when it comes to the relationship between the US and China. The recent visit by the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, to Beijing leaves little doubt that the US has quietly recognised that it is ceasing to be the world’s sole superpower.
In a series of statements, Mrs Clinton implied that the US saw China as an equal and that it was now for the two nations to work together to agree global strategic and economic objectives.
Her remarks represented more than just a change in tone between a Republican and Democratic administration. She all but made clear that without China - the biggest buyer of US Treasury bonds – the US economy would fail. “We are”, she said, “truly going to rise or fall together”.
The global order is changing. Driven by the economic crisis, the gradual drift of economic power away from the developed world is accelerating as quite literally the wealth of nations changes, altering with it global relationships and the exercise of power. Within a decade, this will have significant long-term implications for Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is at its most apparent when it comes to the relationship between the US and China. The recent visit by the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, to Beijing leaves little doubt that the US has quietly recognised that it is ceasing to be the world’s sole superpower.
In a series of statements, Mrs Clinton implied that the US saw China as an equal and that it was now for the two nations to work together to agree global strategic and economic objectives.
Her remarks represented more than just a change in tone between a Republican and Democratic administration. She all but made clear that without China - the biggest buyer of US Treasury bonds – the US economy would fail. “We are”, she said, “truly going to rise or fall together”.
20 February 2009 - David Jessop
Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Sir Allen Stanford in relation to some US$8bn of certificates of deposit sold through Stanford International Bank (SIB), has resulted in a huge reputational blow with far-reaching and long-term consequences for Antigua, the region and its financial services industry.
Although the alleged fraud - which it should be made clear does not relate to SIB’s onshore retail operations - primarily casts a spotlight on Antigua’s regulators and its offshore environment, it will almost certainly be the final act that confirms to the US Administration and other OECD governments that they should move in concert to curtail the activities of all offshore financial centres.
That it should occur within weeks of uncertainties emerging elsewhere in the region about other Caribbean companies for completely different and unconnected reasons, ought to put every Caribbean Government on notice that no matter how professional and dedicated their central bankers and authorities are, the absence of a pan-Caribbean regulatory environment is long overdue.
Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Sir Allen Stanford in relation to some US$8bn of certificates of deposit sold through Stanford International Bank (SIB), has resulted in a huge reputational blow with far-reaching and long-term consequences for Antigua, the region and its financial services industry.
Although the alleged fraud - which it should be made clear does not relate to SIB’s onshore retail operations - primarily casts a spotlight on Antigua’s regulators and its offshore environment, it will almost certainly be the final act that confirms to the US Administration and other OECD governments that they should move in concert to curtail the activities of all offshore financial centres.
That it should occur within weeks of uncertainties emerging elsewhere in the region about other Caribbean companies for completely different and unconnected reasons, ought to put every Caribbean Government on notice that no matter how professional and dedicated their central bankers and authorities are, the absence of a pan-Caribbean regulatory environment is long overdue.
13 February 2009 - David Jessop
Across the Caribbean, governments and the tourism industry are developing new strategies and initiatives aimed at trying to offset the fall in visitor arrivals that most nations expect from April onwards as a consequence of the global economic crisis.
As nothing else before has done, the recession has caused a much needed and long overdue recognition of the importance of an industry that over the last two decades has come to dominate almost all Caribbean economies and create important linkages with local manufacturing, services and agriculture.
Recently the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) made clear the potential threat that the recession posed to the industry in the region. It noted that about 75 per cent of tourists to the English-speaking Caribbean came from economies in recession; predicted that tourism in 2009 will only grow by a maximum of between zero and two per cent; and reported that tourism has become the main source of income for all but the three Caribbean economies (Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad).
Across the Caribbean, governments and the tourism industry are developing new strategies and initiatives aimed at trying to offset the fall in visitor arrivals that most nations expect from April onwards as a consequence of the global economic crisis.
As nothing else before has done, the recession has caused a much needed and long overdue recognition of the importance of an industry that over the last two decades has come to dominate almost all Caribbean economies and create important linkages with local manufacturing, services and agriculture.
Recently the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) made clear the potential threat that the recession posed to the industry in the region. It noted that about 75 per cent of tourists to the English-speaking Caribbean came from economies in recession; predicted that tourism in 2009 will only grow by a maximum of between zero and two per cent; and reported that tourism has become the main source of income for all but the three Caribbean economies (Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad).
06 February 2009 - David Jessop
News that the Government and Central Bank of Trinidad has intervened to take control some of the subsidiary assets of one of the largest of the Caribbean’s transnationals, C L Financial, makes clear the dangers the global financial crisis has for everyone in the Caribbean.
As is now well known, the Trinidad government took action on 30 January in response to ‘increasingly serious’ liquidity pressures effecting the company in order to ‘maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system’. It also did so, it said, because of the coverage and size of the group and the risks of contagion on the entire region.
The news sent shock waves far beyond the Caribbean as CL Financial owns assets valued at over US$100bn in the region and globally in sectors ranging from banking and financial services, to energy, real estate, manufacturing, distribution and distilling. Although no definitive reason has been given for the difficulties facing the company, a mix of factors, led by the global financial crisis and the dramatic fall in methanol and real estate prices, appear to lie behind the liquidity crisis the company faced.
News that the Government and Central Bank of Trinidad has intervened to take control some of the subsidiary assets of one of the largest of the Caribbean’s transnationals, C L Financial, makes clear the dangers the global financial crisis has for everyone in the Caribbean.
As is now well known, the Trinidad government took action on 30 January in response to ‘increasingly serious’ liquidity pressures effecting the company in order to ‘maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system’. It also did so, it said, because of the coverage and size of the group and the risks of contagion on the entire region.
The news sent shock waves far beyond the Caribbean as CL Financial owns assets valued at over US$100bn in the region and globally in sectors ranging from banking and financial services, to energy, real estate, manufacturing, distribution and distilling. Although no definitive reason has been given for the difficulties facing the company, a mix of factors, led by the global financial crisis and the dramatic fall in methanol and real estate prices, appear to lie behind the liquidity crisis the company faced.
30 January 2009 - Ricky Singh
I WAS REMINDED earlier this week of a continuing yawning gap between decision and implementation processes in our Caribbean Community when I learnt of a meeting next month in Guyana of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations and the European Union (EU).
It will be the third regional meeting of the JPA, scheduled for February 24-27, and for which a main agenda issue will be the full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed last October between the EU and CARIFORUM (CARICOM plus the Dominican Republic).
While controversies rage in the capitals of a number of African states over interim EPAs being negotiated with the EU – a few of them have refused to continue negotiations unless the EU agrees to changes – here in the Caribbean conflicts still persist over the full accord that was signed last year.
I WAS REMINDED earlier this week of a continuing yawning gap between decision and implementation processes in our Caribbean Community when I learnt of a meeting next month in Guyana of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations and the European Union (EU).
It will be the third regional meeting of the JPA, scheduled for February 24-27, and for which a main agenda issue will be the full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed last October between the EU and CARIFORUM (CARICOM plus the Dominican Republic).
While controversies rage in the capitals of a number of African states over interim EPAs being negotiated with the EU – a few of them have refused to continue negotiations unless the EU agrees to changes – here in the Caribbean conflicts still persist over the full accord that was signed last year.