GraceKennedy

THE WAY has been cleared for formal discussions between Caribbean governments, the private sector and labour with the creation of the Caribbean Business Council. Prime Minister Owen Arthur and president of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce,James Moss-Solomon, signed the agreement last Saturday at Savannah Hotel to bring the arrangement into effect.

Arthur said the new body would bring "the entire private sector and the labour movement. . . together where they can, in a structured way, meet with us as leaders of the region to make fundamental decisions about transforming our regional economy". Moss-Solomon said the private sector was committed to working with regional governments.

"The governments in our region are engaged in several activities, specially with regards to trade and governance, and although they may be heading our negotiations, there is a clear need for us in the private sector to realise that it is our responsibility to perform."We can only perform within the parameters of which our governments are able to negotiate, and therefore we are committed to sharing our perspectives so that we can ensure that whatever playing field we are on, bears the mark of our own design.

There is a need for us to share our information with our governments and to engage them in dialogue. It's very, very important for our own futures that we invest this time usefully,"he said. (WB)