Sinckler the key speaker at services symposium
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business Chris Sinckler will deliver the feature address when Cave Hill campus holds a services symposium next week to explore what the region requires in order to expand its exports under the recently signed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
The two-day symposium, being held next Monday and Tuesday at Grand Barbados, is being hosted by the University of the West Indies Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (CITLaPS) at Cave Hill, in collaboration with the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries.
The Centre has been in the vanguard of the university’s efforts to produce a cadre of trained specialists to assist the region in its international trade negotiations. To date, this flagship Masters programme has produced dozens of graduates including the current trade minister.
Entitled “Caribbean Services Exports under the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement”, the symposium will offer the first opportunity for negotiators to explain to key stakeholders the potential gains and challenges of the agreement with a specific focus on trade and investment in services.
The symposium follows a number of focus group meetings held recently in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica involving the audio-visual, entertainment, performing arts, accounting, engineering and architecture sectors.
The symposium will involve a range of presentations by negotiators scholars and strategists along with panel discussions and workshop sessions by entrepreneurs, industry representatives, policy analysts NGOs and civil society. The aim is to identify what the impediments and requirements are for implementation and investment and export expansion under the EPA.
One of the main outputs of the symposium will be the preparation of an action plan and handbook that outlines implementation issues, market opportunities and what needs to be done to stimulate services exports in the specific sectors. This will be a vital resource for CARIFORUM Stakeholders and professionals to take advantage of the opportunities built into the EPA.
<< Return to main news page
