Source: CaribWorldNews.com
Guyana was MIA yesterday as 13 Caribbean states signed on to the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement in Barbados.
Those signing the agreement were Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, along with the Dominican Republic.
Guyana, despite agreeing to sign the agreement late Tuesday night, was absent from the signing along with Haiti. But yesterday, government insisted it will now sign on to the EPA later this month.
CARICOM insists the EPA will stimulate trade, investment and innovation, promote sustainable development, build a regional market among Caribbean countries and help eliminate poverty.
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said the South American nation is now agreeable to the `substantial improvement of the agreement,` which includes two new clauses that were recently introduced.
The Guyanese leader also expressed his satisfaction that not only has Europe agreed to a five-year review of the EPA, but emphasized that most importantly, it has committed to make changes to the agreement in the future, should the effects of the deal on the region be adverse.
As such, he said the country will sign on later this month.
Any reason as to why Haiti didn’t sign it?