CARIFORUM and UK EPA Study

CARIFORUM under the CARIFORUM-UK EPA is a bit more complicated, due to the need for UK investors to navigate between 14 different sets of commitments when seeking to make investment decisions in the region. This is with the exception of a single horizontal national treatment reservation that restricts foreign companies from accessing grants and subsidies provided across all CARIFORUM countries (except The Bahamas). Other cross-cutting limitations and reservations range from exchange controls in The Bahamas and Barbados, limitations on land ownership and acquisition across most of the OECS countries, plus Belize and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as limitations on participation in certain sectors across all OECS countries, with the exception of Antigua and Barbuda. There are also specific performance requirements for investments in Jamaica. The Dominican Republic also applies the widest range of horizontal market access and national treatment limitations across CARIFORUM countries, while at the opposite end Antigua and Barbuda and Suriname are the only CARIFORUM countries without any horizontal limitations on Mode 3 commercial service supply. The prohibitions on foreign investment in the Dominican Republic seek to target specific activities that may have an effect on the environment, public health or are relevant to the DR’s national defence and security. Furthermore, where a project is likely to affect the ecosystem, investors are required to submit a project to remedy any ecological damage caused by its activities. The DR also imposes maximum limits on ownership (50%) and there are performance obligations aimed at the employment policies of foreign companies within its jurisdiction (i.e., minimum employment of 80% locals). Other national treatment reservations include limitations on the ownership and control of land within 20 kilometres of the Dominican border, while there are limitations requiring the transfer and disposal of interests in state enterprises to nationals only. ENTs are also linked to the employment activities of foreign companies to protect against temporary labour surges in Jamaica, and investors in build-own-operate and transfer type projects in Jamaica are required to provide evidence of local investment as well as facilitate technology transfer, training and capacity building as far as possible. Jamaica also has a stated preference for

Page 159 of 241