ACS Business Forum Deemed a Success

...next scheduled for Cancun, Mexico

Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Secretary General, Professor Norman Girvan, wrapping up a trip focused on wooing the Greater Caribbean business community to increase trade among themselves, said the regional business forum was a huge success.

"By any measure, this First Forum must be judged to be an overwhelming success. We hoped to have 300 business participants, we had 700 applications," Girvan said. "In the end some 300 enterprises and around 450 businesspeople attended. "In addition, more than 1,800 business meetings were held, as executives capitalized on the opportunity the Forum presented."

"A major objective of the ACS is to increase trade within the countries of the Greater Caribbean. At present, this trade is only 8 percent of the foreign trade of all the countries taken together.

"We are confident that the business contacts brought about by this Forum and the deals which have been made will provide a significant boost to our trade," Girvan said. "The interest has been tremendous and the second forum is being planned."

He announced that the 2001 ACS Business Forum will take place in Cancun, and the Export Organisations Greater Caribbean Forum will be held in Cartagena de Indias, Mexico. Girvan added that a particular source of satisfaction was the strong participation from the English-speaking Caribbean, which sent some 50 business participants.

Regional participants included representatives from manufacturing, tourism and public sector agencies interested in boosting trade and cross border investment.

During the two-day forum, discussions ranged from trade, telecommunications, e-commerce, air and maritime transport, to sustainable tourism and commerce.

"The discussions on these topics were intense," Girvan observed. "The private sector participants came up with a series of practical recommendations, which have been submitted to the president of the Ministerial Council, Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister, Jose Vicente Rangel for consideration."

Rangel, in his address, said the ACS Special Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs, which Venezuela chairs, identified three priority areas: design and make-up of information exchange; development and participation of the business community; and intra-ACS trade and investment.

He said more must be done to promote trade and investment, including the exchange of information on members potential and requirements. He said governments alone cannot carry out what it takes to develop the region alone and he offered support by recognizing their participation in the Forum. He praised the ACS for its initiative, and hoped that trade between its member nations would continue to grow.