Guyana to host talks between Caricom, US Trade & Investment Council

Guyana will soon be hosting the ninth meeting of the Caribbean Community-United States (Caricom-US) Trade and Investment Council, during which discussions will be held on agricultural sustainability and trade relations between the region and the US.
It has been revealed in a statement from Caricom that the meeting will be held on October 13 at the Caricom Secretariat Headquarters, and will be co-hosted by US Deputy Trade Representative Jayme White and Dominica’s Ambassador to Caricom, Felix Gregoire.
During the meeting, the two sides will review matters pertaining to the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which allows 19 countries, including Guyana, to benefit from duty-free access to the US market for most goods.
Other matters that would be reviewed by representatives of the two sides include agricultural sustainability, food and nutrition security, trade in services, trade facilitation, and good regulatory practices. US trade preference programmes for the Region and ways to enhance the trade and investment relationship between the United States and Caricom would also be explored.
“As Caricom accelerates efforts to achieve the goal of 25 percent reduction in food imports by the year 2025, the discussion on agricultural sustainability and food and nutrition security would highlight the use of biotechnology and other tools to promote climate resilience in agriculture, and Caricom’s 25 by 2025 initiative.
“On trade facilitation, officials are expected to discuss avenues for streamlined procedures to facilitate exports, and the participation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in international trade,” the statement said.
The meeting is also expected to explore ways of enhancing the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which is an agreement designed to set up a framework for Caricom and the United States to grow and diverse their trade in products and services on a long-term basis.
The Caribbean, particularly Guyana, has strong trade ties with the US. For last year alone, trade between the US and Guyana amounted to more than US$3.9 billion, an announcement that was made incidentally during the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Guyana in July 2023.
Following a meeting between the visiting United States official and senior members of the Cabinet, at State House in Georgetown, President Dr. Irfaan Ali had highlighted the strong trade relations Guyana and the US share.
“United States is Guyana’s largest trading partner, with accumulated trade of over US$3.9 billion in 2022. United States is overall ranked our number one export destination…US$2.7 billion in 2022; and our number one import…source, US$1.2 billion,” he disclosed.
According to President Ali, while the relationship between the two countries spans many sectors, they share common interest in three priority areas – food security, energy security, and climate security.
“Guyana is contributing significantly [in the region] in all three of these areas. The vision of Guyana is to position our country as a global leader on energy security, food security, and climate security. We’re seeking to expand our partnership with the US in all of these areas,” he had posited.
Secretary Blinken was the second US Secretary of State to visit Guyana under the current PPP/C Government, following the visit of then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020.