Growth in the Caribbean region has been on a downward trajectory for two decades. The region is showing dangerous signs of sinking under the weight of excessive introspection — the real debate concerns how to enable change. The Caribbean is not globally competitive, but dependent. The cost of living is high, ratcheted up by inefficient ports, monopolistic transport markets, high fees and taxes. The appearance of “openness” in trade and finance hides protectionism. The economic framework in the Caribbean is shaped by the political structure, making it difficult for governments to alter the economic structure — where state employment tends to be high, few political parties will risk the wrath of public sector workers. Real change has not been undertaken because the current situation in the Caribbean suits the people with influence.

This latest paper in the CIGI’s series on Caribbean Economic Governance examines the likely effects of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Caribbean countries and the European Union, after decades of agreements that guaranteed markets and preferential prices for Caribbean exports.

The authors of a new paper on Caribbean regional governance cite the urgent need for a frank debate about sovereignty and statehood. They propose steps the region's leaders can take to design a new set of governance arrangements for CARICOM, and argue that it is only with an updated concept of sovereignty that effective institutions can be built to assist the region.

Dialogue on diasporas and their role in the development of the home country has grown in the last twenty years and Caribbean states have begun to identify ways they can engage their nationals residing abroad in this process. Those in the region looking to harness the power of the diaspora have turned their attention to the example of Ireland, a country with a large diaspora that has contributed significantly to its national advancement. By highlighting the lessons of the Irish experience, this paper argues that while the Caribbean's diaspora has the desire to contribute and does help through remittances, there remain a number of challenges to this participation including perceptions of security and stability, establishing the conditions necessary for attracting investment and a lack of confidence in government institutions in the region.

Analyses of South-North migration usually focus on the consequences of migration for the sending countries and recommend measures to improve development outcomes.This paper instead examines the role and responsibility of migrant-receiving states, and constructs a framework of intervention areas for Canada from work conducted in other developed countries. One major concern is that wealthy, migrant-receiving countries are impeding their own overseas development assistance efforts through migration related policies that are contradictory or incoherent across such policy areas as migration, labour, trade, development aid and international affairs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the reasons Canada should reverse this trend and embark on a new development partnership in its future relations with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states. Nearly 400,000 permanent residents of Canada were born in one of the CARICOM states and a further 9,000 CARICOM nationals come to Canada each year under temporary worker programs.