Gradual Reduction and Elimination of Barriers to Trade and Investment in the Greater Caribbean
The Greater Caribbean region faces significant challenges in the sphere of international trade, the dynamism in the exchange of primary goods tugged by Chinese demand, the volatility of oil prices, instability of product prices such as sugar and bananas, and duality in South-South integration. Similarly, the difficulties in successfully completing the Doha round of negotiations suggest different prospects for regional integration, highlighting the large number of regional integration agreements and, in turn, the need for building homogenous policies both in the area of trade and macroeconomic policy.
This is how the ACS provides an area for dialogue and concerted action among governmental, non-governmental and business stakeholders in the region, in order to operate as a forum for discussing initiatives and activities designed to reduce barriers to trade and investment in the region, thereby creating coherence in the various sub-regional policies, leading to concerted action and fostering mutual cooperation.