Hardt Reports On “Successful” CARICOM/US Conference:
By Kendea Jones -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Charge D’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy Dr. Brent Hardt said on Friday that last week’s meeting of CARICOM countries and the United States was successful because it focused on the people and how to improve the relationship among the countries.

"I was amazed at the turnout for the conference," Dr. Hardt said at a press conference at the embassy in Nassau.

"I think it exceeded the expectations that everybody had. It was a unique event in the sense that unlike a lot of summits where you have a government organizing a government to government event, the focus here was on people."

Among some of the topics discussed at the conference were the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, OPBAT, health, immigration and education.

"Altogether the meetings were very, very positive and very constructive," Dr. Hardt said.

While noting that the Bahamas government is not willing to join the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Dr. Hardt said the U.S. president was very strong on the issue of trade preferences.

"We look at the region as a partner and we were looking at the CARICOM region as a whole because there are very small countries with small economies and you have different implementations of regimes and different customs of trade; it makes it very difficult to do business in the region for Caribbean and American investors," he said.

"If you develop a common market economy with standards and ways of approaching economic standards that are common, I think it makes it easier for people to operate economically in that zone."

Dr. Hardt said that during the conference the prime minister agreed to expand the trade and investment framework agreement, which will expand trade and investments opportunities for American and Caribbean businesspersons.

He also said there was consensus that security is key in the Caribbean region.

"Security is key for economic and institutional development and we discussed ways to expand training for law enforcement officers," Dr. Hardt said.

He also said the president commended the region for its security efforts.

"We certainly recognize the vital contribution that countries in the region, such as The Bahamas in particular, are making to our collective security whether it’s in counter narcotics, anti-terrorism, money-laundering issues and military cooperation. It is something that we welcome and will work to build."

Dr. Hardt said Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham indicated during the meetings how important the OPBAT anti-drug initiative is for the Bahamas.

"We are basically trying to deal with a gap between the anticipated departure of Army helicopters in October this year and the arrival of new helicopters in the following year," Dr. Hardt said.

"We want to make sure that there is no erosion in our capabilities at all and that’s the commitment that we have made and we are now in the process of trying to identify our assets."

Dr. Hardt also said that extradition was discussed at the conference. He said that the United States appreciates that the Bahamas strongly agrees with extraditions.

"It is an opportunity to make sure that people who cross borders and commit crimes are indeed punished," he said.

Dr. Hardt also pointed to the issue of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, saying the United States president’s emergency fund will be used to help battle the epidemic.

"It has been targeted largely at Haiti and Guyana which have the worse HIV/AIDS problem in the region. We also provide other assistance and the president looked at ways to expand assistance to other countries in the region," he said.

Dr. Hardt said in terms of environmental issues, the United States focused on reducing its dependence on fossil fuels.

"I think we agree that there is a concern with the climate change which is of critical importance to the United States and to the region and we are going to be working together to look at forestry and water, resource management and clean air technologies and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels," Dr. Hardt said.

He said that in terms of natural disasters, the U.S. government addressed how it can assist the Caribbean region.

"As we get to hazards, we want to build natural disaster programmes and hazard mapping which is figuring out where floods may occur and where other hazards may occur. We have agreed to look at some risk assessment and get the US Geographical Survey involved."

Dr. Hardt said the conference also focused on how the Caribbean can expand education in the region.

He added that the issues will be followed up on by officials.

"What is going to happen is our officials in the state department are going to get together with the Caribbean ambassadors in Washington and come out there with a list of action items and that will drive the relationship forward from this point," Dr. Hardt said.

25 June 2007