GOVERNMENT HAS WARNED the business sector that if it does not act now it runs the risk of losing some advantages in trading and services being offered in the European Union (EU).
The warning was issued by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Maxine McClean as she addressed a seminar focusing on exploiting the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Europe and Caribbean countries.
“In order to seize competitive advantages, we must expedite our EPA implementation process before other regions, ACP (Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific) and non-ACP, overtake us,” McClean told the meeting at Accra Beach Hotel & Spa.
“Therefore, although it will initially be difficult for you our services providers to fully exploit opportunities in the EU, you should be proactive in getting a head start because timing is often critical in international trade agreements and in business.”
She urged local businesses to “seize the moment”, saying that Government and the private sector must advance together “before other players move into the market ahead of us in Barbados”.
According to McClean, “Time is running out.”
She made the point that Government was taking steps to prioritize implementation of the EPA, which Barbados joined other CARIFORUM (Caribbean Forum) countries in signing on October 15, 2008.
“We expect that the private sector will play its role by being proactive and seizing opportunities to access available resources and to exploit export markets,” she said.
“I now call on the private sector players to come to Government with clear proposals on what they want to undertake – establishing how and where and when they would want Government’s support.
“Government is here to facilitate; it is the entrepreneurs who must create.”
The seminar has focused on “strengthening the capacity of Barbados’ services suppliers to compete effectively in the EU and other international markets”.
It is part of a four-month project aimed at assisting Barbadian services suppliers in becoming more knowledgeable about EU markets and better equipped to export services effectively to EU member states. (TY)
