Sir Ronald Sanders, in a column for the Jamaica Observer, argues the case for the integration of the Dominican Republic into CARICOM. The DR has once again applied for full membership in the organization and this time around the probabilities of success are high. The column, which is an abridged version of a paper Sanders delivered to a UNESCO-sponsored Caribbean Media Conference in Grenada on May 14, 2009, factors in the prospect of an opening of relationships between the United States and Cuba as potentially devastating to the economies of the smaller islands. He posits the probability of a deepening of economic relations between Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic once the embargo is lifted as a serious threat to the present CARICOM community. “The Caribbean,” he argues, “will then be dominated by these ‘big three,’ with markets and investment opportunities far greater than all the Caricom countries.” In preparation for such an eventuality, Sanders counsels acceptance of the Dominican Republic into CARICOM as a first step in greater integration between the islands in the region, regardless of size or language:
Caricom countries would delude themselves if they believe that with their individual small markets, high investment costs, high costs of doing business and vulnerabilities both to natural disasters and external economic shocks – such as the current global financial meltdown – they could each operate successfully in the global marketplace in competition with the “big three”.Caricom governments would do well to bolster their economies and their capacity for dealing with their Caribbean neighbours and the international community by urgently completing the arrangements for implementing their own Single Market. They should also swiftly reform the governance of Caricom which sorely needs overhaul.
For the complete article go to http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090516T210000-0500_151567_OBS_THE_BIG_THREE_AND_LITTLE_CARICOM_IN_THE_CARIBBEAN.asp
