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Trade and eco­nom­ic de­vel­op­ment min­is­ters from the 15-mem­ber Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (CARI­COM) be­gan a two day meet­ing in Guyana on Tues­day against the back­ground of many trade-re­lat­ed chal­lenges fac­ing the re­gion, and in a geo-po­lit­i­cal en­vi­ron­ment which is chang­ing very rapid­ly.

CARI­COM Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al, Dr. Car­la Bar­nett, ad­dress­ing the 60th meet­ing of the Coun­cil of Trade and Eco­nom­ic De­vel­op­ment (COT­ED), said that the re­cent tar­iff shocks are a stark re­minder of the need to di­ver­si­fy the re­gion’s trade and eco­nom­ic re­la­tions.

“We must re­dou­ble our ef­forts to deep­en ex­ist­ing, and ex­plore new mar­kets and de­vel­op new part­ner­ships, if the re­gion is to ad­vance its goals of eco­nom­ic growth and sus­tain­able de­vel­op­ment,” she said.