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… addressing the Global Financial CrisisThe 30th Meeting of the Heads of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that concluded yesterday at the Conference Centre, has agreed to and has established a regional task force to forcefully deal with addressing the current Global Economic Crisis.The task force will be headed by Guyana鈥檚 Head of State,cheap nfl jerseys elite, Bharrat Jagdeo and will include Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines,NFL Jerseys From China, Dr Ralph Gonsalves; Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago,Cheap Jerseys From China, Patrick Manning; and Jamaican Prime Minister, Bruce Golding among others.The task force will be aided by technical personnel from resources within each of the countries that have a representative on the newly established entity.Speaking with regional and local media operatives prior to the start of yesterday鈥檚 session, Prime Minister Gonsalves said that the task force is aimed at superintending the response of the region to the economic crisis.He noted that the task force will be entrusted with two central mandates,Cheap NFL Jerseys, one being to mobilise resources internationally and the other being within the Girvan Strategic Vision to identify specific areas where the region could move forward in a more focused and co-ordinated manner.Dr Gonsalves emphasised that this was the first such task force of a political nature.He noted that the work of similar task forces such as the one run by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States will be fed into the CARICOM initiative.Dr Gonsalves was adamant in his emphasis on the fact that it was not just about drafting a document to take to the International Financial Institutions (IFI) in fact he said that the CARICOM task force will stringently and consistently engage the various IFI鈥檚.鈥淲e all know the magnitude of the problem that we are facing, we know the essence of the crisis and we have to do something together regionally.鈥滺e said that there are the criticis who would say that CARICOM is late in its response to the crisis, 鈥渂ut it is better late than never.鈥滺e pointed out that this was not to say that CARICOM countries by themselves have not done anything to mitigate the impact of the crisis. He cited CL Financial, which, ever since its near demise, has since been nationalised in a bid to save jobs and people鈥檚 money. He spoke of British Insurance and CLICO Barbados,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, where the governments have taken steps to mitigate the effects of the crisis.Dr. Gonslaves said that despite the fact that individual countries have been applying some measure, the problem has not been dealt with in a regionally focus manner.As it relates to the traditional lagging by regional bodies in achieving their mandate, Dr. Gonsalves told local and regional reporters that 鈥淵ou can rest assured I gun jam Bharrat (Jagdeo) We got to get this show on the road.鈥滿eanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon in his message to the CARICOM leaders said, 鈥淲e at the United Nations are well aware of the significant impact that the economic and financial crisis is having on your people.鈥滺e pointed out that CARICOM States are highly vulnerable to external shocks and are among the most highly indebted in the world.It was pointed out that the declines in foreign investment,Cheap Baseball Jerseys, tourism and remittance, which account for a large share of income, are of great concern.鈥淭he close links between the domestic banking sector and international banks mean that many countries are experiencing tightening liquidity, thereby reducing domestic credit and causing the cancellation of several projects.鈥滺e said that the global community must come together to address the impact of the crisis, in particular on the poor, 鈥渢hose least responsible for the crisis and least able to respond. We must keep global commitments on aid. We must reform and update our international institutions.鈥滿r. Ban Ki-Moon said that there is need for better real-time data on the consequences,Wholesale Jerseys Chinese, 鈥渢owards that end, I will be launching a Global Vulnerability Alert System in the coming months.鈥� |
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