BUSINESS

IDB fosters trade policy dialogue among Caribbean countries Published on Saturday, December 13, 2008 Email To Friend    Print Version The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) coordinated a high level meeting in Barbados on Friday which identified binding constraints and established priorities for Caribbean countries to be able to benefit from liberalized trade and increased market access. The event, "Caribbean Sub-Regional Meeting on Aid for Trade" is part of the IDB’s efforts to promote a policy dialogue among governments and relevant stakeholders in the Caribbean. IDB Regional Policy Dialogue Initiative organized event was an initial meeting towards the organization of the 2009 IDB WTO Regional Review on Aid for Trade in Latin American and the Caribbean to take place during the spring 2009. The recent signing of the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Cariforum countries and the European Union, as well as other on-going and planned initiatives, provide a key opportunity for the region to play an increased role in the global trading system and to use trade as an instrument for growth and poverty alleviation. Participants reviewed the objectives of the WTO Aid for Trade Roadmap for 2008 and discussed ways to increase developing country participation in the IDB Aid for Trade program. Last mo nth, the Bank announced the creation of a new Aid for Trade Strategic Thematic Fund to help the public and private sectors in Latin American and the Caribbean to integrate into the global economy. The bank’s vice-presidency of sectors and knowledge through its Integration and Trade Sector organized the event. Manager of the Integration and Trade Sector, Antoni Estevadeordal, emphasized the need to strengthen regional and national institutions tasked with the implementation of trade agreements. He also stressed the need to innovate diagnostics methodologies, strengthen monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and, in the spirit of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, to promote donors coordination.   Reads : 751 Back... Comments: No comments on this topic yet. Be the first one to submit a comment. Back... Send us your comments!   Send us your comments on this article for publication in our Readers' Forum or as a Letter to the Editor. All fields are required and in the interest of openness and transparency we will no longer accept anonymous submissions. We therefore request that all submissions include a name for publication, regardless of content. We will in special circumstances protect a writer's identity only after we have established good cause for anonymity, otherwise we will not be able to publish the submission. For your contribution to reach us, you must (a) provide a valid e-mail address and (b) click on the validation link that will be sent to the e-mail address you provide.  If the address is not valid or you don't click on the validation link, it will be a waste of your time typing your submission because we will never see it! Your Name: Your Email: (Validation required) Comments: Enter Validation Code *