The Guyana-based Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (CARI­COM) Sec­re­tari­at Wednes­day said that con­sul­ta­tions with key stake­hold­ers have be­gun across the re­gion to fi­nalise the CARI­COM In­dus­tri­al Pol­i­cy and Strat­e­gy (CIPS) ex­pect­ed to be ap­proved re­gion­al trade min­is­ters lat­er this year.

It said that Suri­name, which holds re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for the In­dus­tri­al Pol­i­cy in the CARI­COM Qua­si Cab­i­net, is spear­head­ing work to­wards its com­ple­tion to present it to a spe­cial meet­ing of the Coun­cil for Trade and Eco­nom­ic De­vel­op­ment (COT­ED) in Oc­to­ber 2025.

The Sec­re­tari­at said that the work to be car­ried out in time for that meet­ing in­cludes deep­er en­gage­ments with key stake­hold­ers in the busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty and that al­ready, con­sul­ta­tions have been held with stake­hold­ers in St. Vin­cent and the Grenadines, while oth­ers are planned for lat­er in Au­gust.