Enhancing India CARIFORUM Economic Relations and Prospects for Cooperation

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE SCENARIO OF CARIFORUM COUNTRIES

The Caribbean Forum economies are characterized by high openness to trade as it is virtually impossible for small island economies to produce everything on their own, thus, they are more reliant on trade. The importance of trade for the region is reflected by the fact that economies have formed multiple trading blocs aimed at removing trade barriers, such as tariffs and quotas, among the member-states. The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are the two most popular trade alliances in the region. Additionally, many islands have established preferential trade agreements with UK, Canada and members of the European Union. These trade agreements help in providing economies in the CARIFORUM access to wider markets. The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) is a grouping of twenty countries – fifteen member states and five associate members. The member states are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The associate members are Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. The CARICOM came into being on 4 July 1973. It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60 percent of whom are under the age of 30. The four major pillars for the CARICOM cooperation are: economic integration; foreign policy coordination; human and social development; and security. 13 The CARICOM and the Government of Republic of Cuba signed the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (TECA) between them, on 5th July 2000. The Agreement provided for further negotiations between the Parties in 2001, to convert the partial scope Agreement

13 CARICOM Official Website

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Enhancing India-CARIFORUM Economic Relations and Prospects for Cooperation