By Rickey Singh
Jamaica Observer
PORT-OF-SPAIN
Petroleumworld.com
02 19 06
Caricom
leaders ended their two-day informal summit last Friday with
a show of unity on two critical issues over which they had been
divided - the PetroCaribe oil agreement and the creation of
a Regional Development Fund (RDF).
Trinidadian
Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who hosted the meeting, told
journalists that he and his fellow heads of state had "kissed
and made up" on their differences over PetroCaribe, but
he gave no details on the embrace of the Venezuela-initiated
deal which Caricom members, other than Trinidad and Barbados,
agreed on last June.
However,
the two-paragraph-long official communiqué that followed
the meeting signalled agreement by Trinidad and Tobago's "willingness
to facilitate" a suspension of Caricom's Common External
Tariff (CET) for Venezuela's oil to flow to community partners
that are signatories to the project.
Prime
Minister of Barbados Owen Arthur, in the meanwhile, was unavailable
for a response as to what the new show of "unity"
on PetroCaribe meant for his country that has a special oil
facility arrangement with Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad
and Tobago, the dominant intra-regional trading partner of the
15-member Community, is currently pursuing an initiative for
a bilateral agreement with Venezuela that is consistent with
overall plans to strengthen its position as Caricom's sole oil
and gas exporter.
An
extension of this strategy is the twin island's notification
to its community partners during the just-concluded meeting,
of its pursuit of a "Caricom partial scope agreement"
with the United States of America energy and related petroleum
products produced by the country.
This
issue is to be considered further when Caricom leaders meet
for their regular annual summit in St Kitts and Nevis in July,
where they hope to report further progress to operationalise
the RDF - a project for disadvantaged economies, which is viewed
as integral to the creation of the Caribbean Single Market and
Economy (CSME).
Apart
from reporting on their "oneness" and "progress"
on CSME arrangements, PetroCaribe and the RDF, the leaders also
announced plans to launch fresh initiatives over the next two
months to secure favourable marketing arrangements with the
European Union on two vital regional exports - sugar and bananas.
Guyana's
President Bharrat Jagdeo and Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph
Gonsalves will lead negotiating teams to the EU.
