Nineteen students from the Dominica State College are more knowledgeable of the opportunities afforded to them by the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
They were part of a six-day field promotion tour last week in St. Lucia which served that purpose.
The students were placed into four groups each dealing with the five regimes of the programme.
Ashley Blanc focused on the free movement of skills.
“With the free movement of skills, you are entitled to all the benefits [of CSME]. You can move to different countries within the CSME to work and live as a citizen. It makes you feel more free like you belong wherever you are,” he explained.
Elisha Titre focused on the free movements of goods and says it is important for all countries to come on-board with the regimes.
“That will enable us to be more competitive with other countries….It is a work in progress,” according to Titre.
Anja Toussaint says the establishment of businesses regime is proving to be successful.
She said, “We visited the Registration of Companies and Intellectual Rights [office] in St. Lucia and we realized that the fee for a CARICOM member to establish his/her business in St. Lucia… is actually lower that what a [non-member state] national would pay. This gives investors the incentive to branch out and move their business from Dominica to St. Lucia without having to apply for a trade license or other regulations. To me, that is tremendous.”
Karla Henry says the CSME regimes are working and she is determined to spread the word about the opportunities available.
She says the future of CSME integration is promising.
“While I was in St. Lucia, I wanted to save some money to my account and it was very easy for me to just go to the bank, give my account number and save money to my account. It is also very beneficial for investors who wish to establish businesses in CSME countries. They would have little or no problems transferring their funds or getting capital from their own accounts.”
According to Dominica’s Ambassador to CARICOM, His Excellency Felix Gregoire,
“We want them to understand that there are opportunities out there for them and we want them at a very early age to think of the bigger picture of the regional integration movement. Some of the outcomes are slow in coming and we need to expedite but we have hope in the young people and we are sure that if they understand and are committed they will take full advantage of the opportunities.”
The students visited ministries; the departments responsible for labour, commerce, and immigration; the local stock exchange; the central bank and regional service companies and financial institutions.