CEDA hopes proposed intra-regional ferry service finalised soon
The Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) yesterday announced that the Caribbean Investment Forum will be held in Guyana this year and its head, Deodat Maharaj, hopes that when CARICOM leaders meet here next month that plans for the intra-regional ferry service are finalised.
“There are three things, the free movement of our people across all occupational categories and second is a formal agreement and an announcement for intraregional transportation, including, the timetable when this first inter-regional ferry will start and the plans going forward to expand this ferry service to include other countries,” the Executive Director of CEDA [Caribbean Export] told the Stabroek News yesterday as he listed areas he hopes are discussed at next month’s CARICOM Heads of Government meeting, to be held here.
He added, “Also the ease of doing business in the Caribbean. We need to radically transform how we do business in the Caribbean, in terms of regulatory and policy environment because the Caribbean is a very difficult place to do business.”
The CEDA Head is currently in Guyana on a four-day visit which wraps up today, to hold discussions with officials from the Government, CARICOM, CARIFORUM, and the European Union.” He said that the main regional trade and investment promotion agency is also using the opportunity to enhance its visibility in Guyana, “so that persons are aware of what we do and can fully leverage the support we provide to boost the country’s exports and attract investments, as many believe they are focused only on export.”
CEDA is an autonomous body that says it implements “a range of innovative and focused initiatives designed to facilitate Caribbean businesses expansion nationally, regionally and internationally into high value markets whilst taking advantage of special market access. We assist businesses that have the export potential or are already exporting to increase their capacity and competitiveness, to boost export earnings and create precious jobs.”
Maharaj said that the two recent announcements of ferry services in the region is something that he is elated about and is sure that many Caribbean nationals and businesses are too, given the potential opportunities they bring.
Last week, a Caribbean private sector consortium – Connect Caribe, launched its ferry initiative saying they anticipate the company will secure the US$50 million needed to make a modern regional cargo and ferry service a reality by the end of this year.
And while Connect Caribe is working with CARICOM and individual governments to ensure smooth passage as it relates to the CARICOM Single Market & Economy and regulatory frameworks, the service is different from the one CARICOM has in mind.
Earlier in the month, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley confirmed that Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have agreed to a ferry service company.
Rowley had made the disclosure at the opening of the Phoenix Park Industrial Estate in Point Lisas, Central Trinidad where he detailed that routes between the three Caribbean states and the Galleons Passage will be facilitated by a vessel from the Twin Island Republic.
“On Thursday [January 11, 2023] the Cabinet will sign off on this decision and only this morning, the Minister of Transportation was told to ready the Galleons Passage for the inaugural trip as soon as that documentation is ready and the vessel is ready,” Rowley stated.
Stabroek News on January 6 of this year reported that President Irfaan Ali had announced that the governments of Guyana, Barbados, and the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, had formed a new ferry company that will introduce a passenger and cargo ferry system.
Complement
Connect Caribe officials said that the planned private sector