Guyanese students on CSME mission in SVG

Twenty five tertiary level students from Guyana are currently in St. Vincent gathering information on the country’s readiness for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).{{more}}

The students are from the Guyana Student Mission are in the country for a week gathering information from businesses and government departments on the opportunities for CSME.

The students arrived on Sunday September 27, 2009 and have visited the Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies (ECGC), the Hairoun Brewery, the Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Trade and the Customs Department.

They visited the SVG Community College Divison of Arts, Sciences and General Studies on Wednesday September 30, 2009 where they were briefed on the history of the school, before taking part in a question-and-answer session with dean of the college Rosa Vanloo and vice dean (Ag.) Nigel Scott.

Students of the Community College who visited Suriname on a similar mission also spoke of their experiences. Chad Greaves described his trip to Suriname as “an eye opening experience”, adding that he saw how the CSME impacted the society and how far the country was in achieving its goals.

The CSME is intended to benefit the people of the region by providing better opportunities to produce and sell goods and services and attract investment among CARICOM member states.

The CSME Unit of CARICOM is currently executing the second phase of the programme. There are nine other missions across the region, which are also apart of the programme with the theme “Students engaging the CSME through field promotion”. The first phase of the programme was launched in Barbados last September.

The Ninth European Development Fund Caribbean Integration Support Programme has contributed to the developmental assistance for the second phase of the programme.

Economics Student Dhanrha Singh from the Guyana Student Mission told Searchlight he believes St. Vincent and the Grenadines is taking the necessary steps to get ready for CSME, although its economy is “small and vulnerable”.

“The perception I have from the interviews that I have done so far is that the Government is pretty much trying its best to implement changes across the various sectors to accommodate CSME,” he said.

At the end of the missions students will assist in the preparation of a project report that will be made available to national, university and school libraries. The Guyana Student Mission will leave St.Vincent on October 3, 2009.(OS)