Caribbean community (caricom)
Established in 1973, The Caribbean Community (also known under the name CARICOM) includes 15 nations of Central America – Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominica, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and some small island countries. It has NOT been very effective economically because the intergroup trade is rather small. However, as of late, CARICOM countries have declared their political will to achieve a much HIGHER degree of subregional cooperation and to try and practically FULLY INTEGRATE the fragile local economies in order to be able “to confront the FREE TRADE era”. Also, just like Mercosur, CARICOM began to show its desire to more actively participate in global affairs thus attracting attention of the EU and Japan.
CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy. Its major activities involve coordinating economic policies and development planning; devising and instituting special projects for the lessdeveloped countries within its jurisdiction; operating as a regional single market for many of its members (Caricom Single Market); and handling regional trade disputes. The secretariat headquarters is based in Georgetown, Guyana.
Since the establishment of the Caribbean Community by the mainly Englishspeaking parts of the Caribbean region, CARICOM has become multilingual in practice with the addition of Dutch speakingSuriname on 4 July 1995 and French (and Haitian Kreyòl) speaking Haiti on 2 July 2002. Furthermore, it was suggested that Spanish should also become a working language. In July 2012, CARICOM announced that they were considering making French and Dutch official languages.
In 2001, the heads of government signed a Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas thus clearing the way for the transformation of the idea for a Common Market aspect of CARICOM into instead a Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy. Part of the revised treaty among member states includes the establishment and implementation of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Since 2013 the CARICOMbloc along with the Dominican Republic is tied to the European Commission via an Economic Partnership Agreement known as CARIFORUM signed in 2008. The treaty grants all members of the European Union and CARIFORUM equal rights in terms of trade and investment. Within the agreement under Article 234, the European Court of Justice also carries dispute resolution mechanisms between CARIFORUM and the European Union states.
In November 2000 in Tokyo, at the first ministerial level meeting between Japan and the delegations of 14 Caricom countries a comprehensive policy document has been signed which is aimed at establishing a LEGAL FRAMEWORK for strengthening cooperation in economic field and in a wide range of other areas in the 21st century. Japan is ready to help integrate this rather underdeveloped tropical region into the global economy through enhanced development aid and creation of better conditions for Caricom in its attempts to attract FOREIGN INVESTMENT.
Besides humanitarian motives, Japan has also two practical considerations. The one is connected with its hope to gain permanent MEMBERSHIP on the UN Security Council. The second have to do with the use of NUCLEAR ENERGY. In fact, the Caribbean offers a convenient route for ships transporting spent nuclear fuel back to Japan after reprocessing in Europe.
* In Asia the most important subregional POLITICAL and ECONOMIC organization is the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which you already well know.
The ASEAN is a political and economic organisation of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam. Its aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, sociocultural evolution among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.
ASEAN covers a land area of 4.46 million km², which is 3% of the total land area of Earth, and has a population of approximately 600 million people, which is 8.8% of the world's population. The sea area of ASEAN is about three times larger than its land counterpart. In 2012, its combined nominal GDP had grown to more than US$2.3 trillion. If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the sixth largest economy in the world, behind the US, China, Japan, India and Germany.
On 28 July 1995, Vietnam became the seventh member. Laos and Myanmar (Burma) joined two years later on 23 July 1997. Cambodia was to have joined together with Laos and Burma, but was deferred due to the country's internal political struggle. The country later joined on 30 April 1999, following the stabilization of its government.
During the 1990s, the bloc experienced an increase in both membership and drive for further integration. In 1990, Malaysia proposed the creation of an East Asia Economic Caucus comprising the then members of ASEAN as well as the People's Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea, with the intention of counterbalancing the growing influence of the United States in the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and in the Asian region as a whole. This proposal failed, however, because of heavy opposition from the United States and Japan. Despite this failure, member states continued to work for further integration and ASEAN Plus Three was created in 1997.
The creation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is a new beginning, but the narrow base of MUTUAL exchange of goods does NOT promise BIG SUCCESS of this arrangement, at least in the near future. As for the ASEAN plus Three and ASEAN plus Six groupings mentioned in Topic 9, their future role is NOT quite clear yet, but can be considerable, especially if they secure instrumental Japanese participation and find adequate forms in relations with Australia and New Zealand.
*In 1995, the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) was ratified by the member states of SAARC – the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, that includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
In the late 1990s, a NEW subregional organization in Asia has been established under the name "BIMSTEC” – abbreviation from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation (since 2004, it also includes Nepal and Bhutan).
There is another name to this organization – the Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, with the same abbreviation – BIMSTEC. Whatsoever the origin of this short name, this group of countries around the Bay of Bengal aims at cooperation projects in the sectors of TRADE, INVESTMENT, INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, HUMAN RESOURCES, TOURISM, AGRICULTURE, ENERGY, INFRASTRUCTURE and TRANSPORT.
In 2004, SIX countries of BIMSTEC (without Bangladesh) signed a “draft” (or “framework”) FREE TRADE AREA AGREEMENT that in the near future can serve as a LINK between the TWO emerging FTA in South and South East Asia – i.e., between the SAPTA and the AFTA.
In 1997, representatives of EIGHT Islamic countries of different regions which gathered in Turkey adopted an ambitious scheme to create their own INTERNATIONAL GROUP with the goal of promoting ECONOMIC and TRADE ties. Named the "Developing Eight" (or D8), the group includes Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. This is a NEW step in endeavors to achieve ISLAMIC UNITY and to create a kind of POLITICAL COUNTERBALANCE to the Group of Seven developed countries.
In May 2001, at a meeting in Rabat (Morocco), four Arab Mediterranean countries – Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia – set up a FREE TRADE ZONE, which would also be opened to other Arab countries. It was regarded as a FIRST STEP toward creating what is called the “Great Arab Free Trade Zone” sometime in the future.
* The efforts aimed at multinational market development in Africa are characterized by A GREAT DEAL of activity but LITTLE progress. This is understandable in light of the POLITICAL INSTABILITY and very WEAK ECONOMIC BASE on which Africa had to build. Political sovereignty is a NEW enough phenomenon for most African nations, and they are reluctant to give away any part of it without specific and tangible benefits in return.
However, TWO main approaches have been employed to integrate Africa.
FIRST – attempts to bring together NARROW GROUPS of neighboring nations emphasizing economic growth in the INDUSTRIAL SECTOR – like the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) including, among others, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Gabon, and Zaire.
Currently there are multiple regional blocs in Africa, also known as Regional Economic Communities (RECs), many of which have overlapping memberships. The RECs consist primarily of trade blocs and, in some cases, involve some political and military cooperation. Most of these RECs form the "pillars" of African Economic Community (AEC), many of which also have an overlap in some of their member states. Due to this high proportion of overlap it is likely that some states with several memberships will eventually drop out of one or more RECs. Several of these pillars also contain subgroups with tighter customs and/or monetary unions of their own.
SECOND – more GRANDIOSE schemes embracing a LARGE NUMBER of nations of the Black Continent and aimed at bringing about wide subregional TRADE and INVESTMENT LIBERALIZATION and rather loose COOPERATION in such spheres as transportation, education, labor, natural resources, agriculture and industrial development.
Of this type is, for example, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) which is a free trade area with nineteen member states stretching from Libya to Swaziland. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed a free trade area in 2000 (Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe), with Rwanda and Burundi joining the FTA in 2004, the Comoros and Libya in 2006, and Seychelles in 2009.
In 2008, COMESA agreed to an expanded freetrade zone including members of two other African trade blocs, the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The group is also considering a common visa scheme to boost tourism.
COMESA is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC).
In its turn, the African Economic Community (AEC) is an organization of African Union states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority of countries of the continent. The stated goals of the organization include the creation of free trade areas, customs unions, a single market, a central bank, and a common currency (see African Monetary Union) thus establishing an economic and monetary union.
It was in 2002 that the Organization for African Unity, famous with its inefficiency and bureaucracy, was reorganized under a new name – the African Union (AU). However, Africa’s POLITICAL unity must become much more than a slogan before anything can be achieved along the lines of regional ECONOMIC cooperation.
Of the same type as COMESA is also the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – probably the most ambitious of the African regional groups. ECOWAS embraces 16 countries with a population over 200 million, including Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. In regard to this group, experts suggest that it has the BEST CHANCES of succeeding.
Yet, at the moment, it is safe to say that of ALL the world regions’ integration schemes, African attempts have been the LEAST SUCCESSFUL.
Despite overall UNDERDEVELOPMENT and POVERTY, many PARTS of Africa are extremely rich in RESOURCES and get ever more momentum in their INDUSTRIALIZATION efforts. As a result, in the last several years the Black Continent began to attract attention in the Western political and business circles, including American establishment.
The same can be said about Japan which ever more often looks beyond its cooperation with neighbors in Asia and tries to explore opportunities offered by other continents, first of all by Latin America, but also by Africa.
Since 1993, Japan more or less regularly hoists the socalled Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), In 1995, about 80 countries were represented at TICAD II (53 African states, 16 aiddonor nations, and 11 Asian countries, including China, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea). Also, 40 international organizations participated in that largescale event. The TICAD V has taken place in 2013.