Regional media urged to go further

Just reporting the mechanics of the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM and EU is not enough.

This was the admonishment given to regional media personnel by Minister of Finance, Planning, Economy, Energy and Co-operation, Nazim Burke, on Monday. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day Regional Media Workshop on the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement at The Grenadian by Rex Resorts.

From left: Nand Bardouille of the EPA Implementation
Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat; David Gomez,
Manager of Trade and Development at the Caribbean Export
Development Agency; and Elisa Whitehouse from the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
(German Development Agency).

The workshop was hosted by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Grenada National EPA Implementation Unit (NEPAIU).

According to the Minister, the media has a responsibility to educate the public on the implications that the EPA will have for national development – bringing to the fore the opportunities and challenges that the local population will face.

This view was supported by David Gomez, Manager of Trade and Development at the Caribbean Export Development Agency, who agreed that “the media is important in helping to raise the awareness of opportunities and challenges presented by the EPA and, by extension, any other trade agreement to which CARIFORUM countries are party or signed on to”.

According to Mr. Gomez, the media must embrace its role as a real driver of change in the society. He reminded that the EPA is not simply a trade agreement, but has implications for broader national and regional development.

He urged the media to give more prominence to the development aspect of the EPA in order to stimulate the political will needed to get policies, legislation and regulations in place to ensure that the EPA can be fully exploited, allowing trade, especially in services, to serve as an engine of growth and development.

Regional media personnel take part in the Regional
Media Workshop on the CARIFORUM-EU Economic
Partnership Agreement at The Grenadian by Rex Resorts this week.

His comments coincided with further remarks from Minister Burke, who asserted, “The EPA must resonate in a positive way in the lives of the Caribbean public. It is only when this becomes the reality of our Caribbean people can we truly say that the implementation of the EPA is a success.

“The extent to which the EPA is regarded as a success is determined by the extent to which the regional private sector is able to take full advantage of and reap the benefits from this agreement.

“You must signal that this agreement heralds a dawn of a new era in international economic relations. You must signal that this agreement forms the basis of a mature trading relationship between the
CARIFORUM countries and the EU. You must signal that this agreement represents innovation, modernity and visionary thought,” he urged.


“The media influences the decisions of Caribbean citizens, often in fundamental ways. The quality of your news influences the quality of our thoughts. The quality of your news influences our decisions. The quality of your news influences our actions.” (YA)