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Remarks by
Hon. Fred Mitchell MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs &
The Public Service
Canadian
Bahamas Business Council
Wednesday
14th March 2007
I am pleased
to be here today to make this brief statement on this important
occasion for Canadian and Bahamian relations.
The Bahamas
and Canada have close, fraternal relations in a number of fora in
the Organization of American States, the United Nations and in
Caricom.
As you know
Canadians have a strong presence in The Bahamas.
Amongst the
oldest investors in the country is the Royal Bank of Canada, in fact
the largest and oldest bank in The Bahamas, which will celebrate its
centenary in The Bahamas next year.
In terms of
the technical expertise that has been given to this country,
Canadian experts have been at the forefront.
Most recently,
the Canadian military lent its expertise to reviewing our Royal
Bahamas Defence Force and will assist in the equipping of the
Defence Force. There will be opportunities for Canadian business in
that exercise.
The major
focus of the Government will be trade in the future. Over the past
five years, there has been a considerable debate in the country
about how we will trade with the rest of the world.
We are still
grappling with the important question of how we will integrate our
economy with the rest of world.
We are not a
part of any regional or world wide economic grouping that seeks by a
common instrument to regulate reciprocal terms of trade. The sole
possible exception to this is our participation as a part of the
African Caribbean and Pacific Group or ACP and the Contonou
Agreement.
But that
agreement as you know does not require reciprocity in the terms of
trade. It is a one way preference system which Peter Mandelson the
EU Trade Commissioner has predicted will fall away within this
year. It is set to expire on the 31st December 2007.
The entire
Caricom region of which we are a part is struggling to come to terms
with the new demands for reciprocity in trade.
The Bahamas
that is not a part of the Caricom Single market and Economy (CSME)
is part of the Cariforum (Caricom and the Dominican Republic) and
has joined Cariforum’s offer to the EU on goods which will mean some
loss of revenue on goods imported from Europe.
This was after
a careful analysis revealed that the losses would not be significant
but the benefits in terms of continued access to European markets
were significant.
We are
considering our position in conjunction with our business community
but the Cabinet has given strict instructions on this side to avoid
any signal of interest in compliance with European Tax Initiatives
in the absence of a level playing field.
The present
Contonou Agreement is an exception to the WTO rules on reciprocity
in access to markets. So is the American Caribbean Basin Initiative
which is already not in compliance with the WTO and which if the
waiver request is granted will expire in September 2008. I am
advised that a similar situation applies to Canadian public policy
on this issue.
Clearly then
the main focus over the next five years will have to be the terms of
trade.
The Cabinet
agreed recently to the creation for the first time of a Department
of Foreign Trade. A recruitment exercise will follow shortly and
this will help significantly in dealing with these matters.
Further, it is
expected that provision will be made in the next budget cycle for an
embassy in Brussels to serve both the EU and the WTO. In the latter
case the question is should we proceed with accession to that body.
Canadian expertise has helped us significantly in the accession
process.
The Government
is pleased at the fact of this visit and luncheon today. It signals
a re-engagement in the region by Canada. It is particularly
fulfilling since Caricom Heads of Government pointed out to a
Canadian Prime Minister their concern that Canada’s foreign policy
statement did not then specifically address relations with the
Caricom region.
I am advised
by our High Commissioner in Canada that there has been a meeting
with Caricom High Commissioners in Ottawa and there was a strong
signal of Canada’s wish to re-engage the region and further develop
its strong historic ties to this area.
I hope then
that this is sign of more to come.
It is our
belief that the terms of trade must always have a development
component to it. This development component must always include
education and training.
We are for
example faced with a situation today of a high demand for labour but
there is a labour shortage because of the lack of training of
workers.
There is
significant resentment developing in the population as they see
opportunities abounding but have the perception that opportunities
are passing them by.
As you know
Bahamians find a Canadian education to be a good value for money and
scores of Bahamian students attend those universities but there is a
concern about the fact of access to Canada and the process of
student visas which while not burdensome to navigate should be
reviewed by the Canadian government to ensure that Bahamians have
the quickest access to Canadian educational institutions.
On the
political front, it is necessary to say that we worked closely with
the Canadian government on Haiti. We are deeply appreciative of all
that has been done to assist with the restoration of democracy in
that country.
We also
appreciate and understand that due in part to a notable percentage
of Haitian émigrés in Quebec province that Canada considers Haiti as
an important part of the Canadian neighbourhood.
It is then our
wish, our hope and our expectation that Canada will continue to work
with The Bahamas and others with an interest in this region to help
to solve the problems in Haiti and thus reduce the negative effects
of Haitian internal politics on the domestic situation in The
Bahamas and in the region generally.
Thank you.
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