President Leonel Fernández, in his speech during the general assembly of the ACS Summit challenged attendees to create what would be the world’s fourth-largest trade bloc, giving a new dimension to the Caribbean nations. Member states have a population of more than 200 million and a $500 billion gross domestic product. He sees if cohesion is achieved, the region as a unit would bring a new dimension to the Caribbean diplomacy. The cohesion would permit the region to have better negotiating capacity before world forums such as the Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization.
