The Caribbean's Council for Trade and Economic Development is holding its sixteenth meeting in Belize this week.
At the official opening this morning, host for the event, Prime Minister Hon. Said Musa re-iterated his stance on global and free trade.
Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister
"For us in Belize our trade negotiating strategy is grounded in the principle of gradualism. We accept the inevitability of change but change must serve the common good. Our small size and limited resource all dictate that our insertion into the global economy must be gradual. We believe that is also the CARICOM view. The long standing trade arrangements which enjoy should only be dismantled if the new arrangements allow us to continue to develop and increase the quality of life of our people."
"But in a very real sense, we are to work for the average Caribbean man and woman who slips from slumber at the crack of dawn to catch flying fish, cut oranges, bananas or sugar canes or to rake the seaweed from our beaches. We are here in the name of Caribbean doctors and lawyers, the artists, musicians, tour guides and hotel workers, teachers, and nurses, and industrialists, farmers, and merchants. For them we must ensure that trade offers a opportunity to make a honest and respectable living."
The meeting concludes tomorrow.