CARICOM

The Caribbean Community was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973, as a movement towards unity in the Caribbean. It comprises fourteen members, namely Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and three associate members namely Anguilla, British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. The Haitian Parliament is expected to ratify the Treaty and present its instruments of accession in order to become the fifteenth Member.

The main thrust of the community is promotion of integration of the economies of its Member States, co-ordination of foreign policies and functional co-operation, specially with regard to social and human endeavors. One of the most critical issues on the community’s agenda is the deepening of the integration process through the creation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Inherent in this process is the revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the establishment of regional structures including the Caribbean Court of Justice, and the regional Stock Exchange.

CARICOM Secretariat Bank of Guyana Building Georgetown, Guyana Tel: 592-226-9281-9 Fax: 592-226- 3098 E-mail: carisec3@caricom.org Website: CARICOM