AMBASSADOR SPEAKS

February 1999 Table of Contents - Current Issue of The Abaco Journal - Abaco Bahamas' Home Page

AMBASSADOR SPEAKS TO JOURNAL

While on a private visit to Abaco with his family, High Commissioner to the Caricom States and Ambassador to Suriname, Leonard Archer, took time out to speak with the Abaco Journal about developments in the Caribbean area.

The 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas, which forms the basis for the West Indies common market, was undergoing revision. Instead of meetings of ministers as held in past years, there would be five councils which would rationalise the number of future meetings. The councils are: Foreign and Community Relations; Human and Social Development; Trade and Economic Development; Finance and Planning; and the Community Council of Ministers.

Ambassador Archer told the Journal that The Bahamas was not yet a member of the common market and a study would soon be made to investigate the pros and cons of membership. A recent protocol, for instance, allows for the establishment of businesses in other common market countries and the right of those people responsible for a business to reside and work in that country. The government would have to seriously assess the impact of such protocols on the development of the country.

The Bahamas was also not a member of the World Trade Organisation and, again, a feasibility study would soon be under way to assess eventual membership. The Bahamas does not have a large traditional trading base but Ambassador Archer pointed out that trading services such as tourism and banking fall within the province of the WTO. The WTO issues investment guarantees which provide security for developers and investors in member countries. The Bahamas would be at a disadvantage if it could not issue the same investment guarantees.

Progress towards the Free Trade Area of the Americas is also being monitored by government both as a sovereign country and as a member of Caricom, which coordinates the positions of sixteen West Indian countries. Several Bahamians head sections of the regional negotiating machinery, Ambassador Archer noted.

Leonard Archer grew up in Marsh Harbour and Coopers Town, where his father was the Headteacher, and received his teacher training at Redlands College in Bristol, England. He taught in The Bahamas for 20 years and was very prominent in union activities before moving on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This Issue Table of Contents - - Previous Issues

Other Abaco Bahamas Links
Home Page (oii.net) - Message Board (AbacoBoard.com) - Latest Happenings (AbacoToday.com)