Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 3rd Edition

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Clearing The Hurdles

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ith a view to attaining sustained economic growth and development, Members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have

been engaged in the establishment of a single market in which goods, services, capital, enterprises and labour move freely. Already, the CARICOM Single Market (CSM) regime provides guarantees that facilitate cross-border investments in CARICOM. Community nationals enjoy the right of establishment, which includes the right to create and manage economic enterprises. Countries participating in the CSM have committed to remove restrictions on Community nationals exercising this right, including restrictions on the movement of managerial, technical and supervisory staff of economic enterprises and on the setting up of agencies, branches and subsidiaries of companies established in CARICOM. They have also committed to remove restrictions on the movement of capital payments, including equity and portfolio investments, dividends, repatriation of proceeds from the sale of assets and other transfers and payments relating to investment flows. Further, Community nationals have been guaranteed that, in exercising the right of establishment and the free movement of capital, they will not be discriminated against on the grounds of nationality only or be treated less favourably than nationals of other countries. They are also able, with the permission of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), to seek redress before the Court if those rights are not respected by Member States or the Community. Importantly, CARICOM countries have committed to take further action and establish a Community Investment Policy. In large measure, the rationale for a harmonized investment policy framework is that investors would be more attracted to a single investment space based on similar investment policies than diverse policy frameworks across the small economies of the Region. In addition to a harmonized system of investment incentives, a core component of the CARICOM Investment Policy Framework will be the CARICOM Investment Code, a legally binding agreement between CARICOM countries that creates a common regime for the protection, promotion and facilitation of investment in the Community. Objectives and Key Features of the CARICOM Investment Code Recent discussions on the Code have been informed by global initiatives aimed at ensuring that investment policies are supportive of sustainable development, such as the Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Those discussions