THE CARIFORUM-EC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT ONE YEAR ON: REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados Conference Room 2nd floor, Caricom Research Building

22 April 10.00-10.15

Chair: Errol Humphrey, Barbados EPA Implementation Unit Welcoming remarks: Keith Nurse, UWI, Cave Hill Valeriano Diaz, Head of the EU Delegation Barbados Competitiveness, regional integration and sustainable development Anthony Clayton, UWI, Mona The EPA as a competitiveness tool for the Caribbean: A view from the Dominican Republic Federico Cuello, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic CARIFORUM EPA negotiations: objectives; political oversight and technical preparations Henry Gill, former Director General, CRNM A Trade Partnership for Sustainable Development: an overview Junior Lodge, OTN, CARICOM Secretariat General discussion

10.15-10.45

10.45-11.15

11.15-11.45

11.45-12.15

12.15-13.00

*** Chair: Gail Mathurin, Director General, Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), CARICOM Secretariat 14.30-14.55 Trade in goods: full liberalization in the EU and liberalisation commitments of CARIFORUM Sacha Silva, OTN, CARICOM Secretariat Roberto Despradel, consultant to the Dominican Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discussant Investment and trade in services Ramesh Chaitoo, former Head of the CRNM Services Trade Unit Natasha Ward, Barbados Private Sector Trade Team, discussant General discussion

14.55-15.15

15.15-15-45

15.45-16.00 16.00-16.15 16.15-16.35

The impact of EPA on Caribbean economies

Damien King, Caribbean Policy Research Institute Andrew Downes, UWI, Cave Hill, discussant Mahindra Ramesh Ramdeen, Trinidad and Association, discussant General discussion

16.35-17.00

Tobago

Manufacturers

17.00-17.45

23 April 9.30-10.00

Chair: Keith Nurse, UWI Cave Hill EPA and the creative economy: prospects and implementation challenges Keith Nurse, UWI Cave Hill Public procurement and competition policy Taimoon Stewart, UWI St. Augustine Chantal Ononaiwu, OTN, discussant Innovation and intellectual property Malcolm Spence, OTN, CARICOM Secretariat Lennox Chandler, Caribbean Council for Science and Technology Environment, social aspects and institutional provisions Rico Zampetti, European Commission Kusha Haraksingh, UWI St. Augustine, discussant General discussion

10.00-10.30

10.30-11.00 11.00-11.30

11.30-11.45 11.45-12.00

12.00-12.15 12.15-13.00

*** Chair: Pamela Coke-Hamilton, IADB 14.30-15.00 Comparison of CARIFORUM EPA and other trade negotiations Maryse Robert, Organisation of American States Lorand Bartels, University of Cambridge, discussant Laura Rojas, consultant, discussant A view from a WTO perspective Peter Gonzales, consultant Robert Howse, NYU Law School, discussant General discussion Implementation of the EPA in the various CARIFORUM countries, lessons learned one year on Brandy Isaacs, EPA Implementation Unit, CARICOM Secretariat Errol Humphrey, Barbados EPA Implementation Unit, discussant Carlos Wharton, Caribbean Export Development Agency, discussant Concluding remarks: regional integration agreements and the promotion of sustainable development: a view from Europe Karl Falkenberg, Director General for Environment, European Commission

15.00-15.15

15.15-15.45

15.45-16.00 16.00-16.30 16.30-17.00

17.00-17.30

17.30-18.00