Caricom Trade Ministers engage US Trade Rep on investment opportunities

CARICOM Ministers of Trade met with the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Katherine Tai, in Guyana on Friday to advance CARICOM-US Bilateral discussions on key trade and investment issues of mutual interest.
The Meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Ramphal House and co-hosted by Guyana’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minster, Hugh Todd, and the CARICOM Secretary-General, represented by Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Wayne McCook.
The Minister of Trade and Industry of Trinidad and Tobago and current Chairman of COTED (Council for Trade and Economic Development) Paula Gopie-Scoon represented the COTED.
To strengthen the CARICOM-US bilateral trade and investment relationship, the two sides discussed the longstanding trade and investment Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) and the need to widen and deepen the scope of the agenda to cover trade in services, trade facilitation, supply chain development, and support for women and youth employment in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMES) inter alia.
In this regard, they also acknowledged the recent high-level technical engagements under the CARICOM-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and the Trade and Investment Council (TIC).
The USTR and CARICOM Trade Ministers agreed to consider an early follow-up meeting.