The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) has reaffirmed its commitment to regional integration and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) in light of the ongoing spat involving regional leaders and the future direction of the 15-member grouping.
In a statement, the CPSO said since it became an ‘associate institution’ within CARICOM, it has worked with fellow private sector companies and business organisations ‘to advance projects and representations to pursue the noble objectives of the CSME,’ which allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region.
The CPSO said that the CSME has ‘delivered tangible benefits to firms and workers throughout the region, supporting significant intra-regional trade, strengthening regional supply chains and contributing meaningfully to foreign exchange earnings and economic activity in member states, including Trinidad and Tobago’.
In recent days, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has called on Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to ‘produce the evidence’ that CARICOM, including Antigua and Barbuda had aligned itself with ‘the Maduro narco government headed by a dictator’ in Venezuela.