The CARICOM Secretariat, in collaboration with the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), and the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), and in consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada will convene a CARICOM-Canada Trade Development Forum (TDF) on 2 – 3 November, 2011 in Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada.
This forum will bring together CARICOM and Canada’s private sector stakeholders in what promises to be a meaningful dialogue on existing trade and investment opportunities and on those that will become available
through the implementation of the Trade and Development Agreement.
The Member States of the Caribbean Community are currently engaged in negotiations with Canada for a Trade and Development Agreement intended to
replace the existing CARIBCAN Agreement, which expires at the end of 2011. The new Agreement is expected to provide improved terms for access for
CARICOM’s goods, services and investments into the Canadian market and facilitate development cooperation between the Parties.
The Coordinators of the TDF anticipate that the interactive two-day event will help the participants to identify tangible business opportunities which may be secured by the negotiation of the Trade and Development Agreement. It is also anticipated that the Forum will allow the participants to work out future mechanisms to foster greater synergies and
cooperation between private and public sector actors that can be used to help generate and maintain strong private sector support for the Agreement.
The TDF will focus on some of the sectors that are considered to have the best prospects for the development of CARICOM’s and Canada’s trade and
which can be positively impacted in the long term through the negotiation of the Trade and Development Agreement. Those sectors include:
• Professional Services including; Offshore data processing; Offshore Accountancy; Software implementation; Energy Services; Distribution/Retail;
Transportation; Architecture; and
Engineering;
• Tourism Promotion and Product Development(including Spa and Wellness);
• Cinematic Production (including the Audiovisual sector);
• Financial Services;
• Goods including Agribusiness inter alia; Seasonings and Condiments; Rum/Alcoholic Beverages; Rice; and Sugar; and
o Seafood;
o Clothing/apparel;
o Mining;
o Furniture;
o Arts & Crafts; and
o Oil/Gas
The forum will compose of representatives from The Canada Chamber of Commerce; The Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce; Retail
Council of Canada; Export Development Canada; the Canadian Council of Chief Executives; The Canadian Services Coalition; The Canada Caribbean Business Council; The Council of Caribbean Engineering Organizations (CCEO); CARICOM NationalServices Coalitions; the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean; and the Caribbean Spa & Wellness Association.
To encourage dialogue and collaboration amongst businesses and communities, the Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) has enabled a internet web portal
which can be accessed at
https://caricom-canada-tdf.teamlab.com/auth.aspx.