The milestone agreement followed talks in Caracas, Venezuela between Energy and Energy Affairs Minister, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, and Venezuela’s Petroleum and Energy Minister, Rafael Ramirez on Monday (August 18,2010).

Minister Seepersad-Bachan departed for Caracas on Sunday to meet with her Venezuelan counterpart for an official signing ceremony for the unitisation of the Loran-Manatee cross-border gas field and to participate in the exchange of official instruments that would give effect to the agreement.

In addressing the delegates, the Minister said: “Like the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is working to ensure that our oil and gas wealth is monetized in a manner that promotes national development and a stable future for our people. In doing so we are both mindful of our responsibility to assist our regional partners to the extent possible in our overall effort to promote sustainable, people-centred development.”

Speaking from Venezuela following the signing ceremony, the Minister disclosed: “In addition to the signing, I met with the Minister of Petroleum and Energy of Venezuela this morning in closed door discussions and arising out of those talks, we both agreed to move forward to explore areas where both our countries can deepen and expand cooperation between our energy sectors.”

“Another team will therefore be set up to build on our discussions and establish other vital areas of cooperation we can explore.”

Minister Seepersad-Bachan also said the Government of Venezuela was equally keen on moving forward with the Loran-Manatee agreement, saying: “We will also be looking at ways in which we can expedite the current cross-border agreement and ensure that it works to the maximum benefits of our respective countries.”

The results continue to indicate that an above-normal season is very likely. This could spell trouble for highly vulnerable Caribbean nations such as Haiti, still reeling from the effects of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010. On top of this, other forecasts point to increased thunderstorm activity for the region as well.

The IRI’s hurricane forecast probabilities are the strongest the institution has ever issued at this point in the season, eclipsed only by a late-season forecast during record-setting 2005.

The latest numbers call for a 50% chance of above-normal activity, 35% chance of near-normal activity and a 15% chance for below-normal activity. Put in simpler terms, this means that the chance of having an above-normal year is more than three times the chance of having a below-normal one.

The hurricane forecast issued last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is even stronger, calling for an 85% chance of an above-normal season.

Although the forecast calls for an active season, this doesn’t guarantee that devastation will occur. The seasonal forecasts don’t tell us where, when or if the hurricanes will hit land. They just tell us that we’ll likely see more of them this season, increasing the odds that some inhabited areas will get hit.

Because of the potentially destructive nature of hurricanes and tropical storms, the higher odds are a cause for concern. “Hurricanes can devastate the economies of the Caribbean and Central America,” says Walter Baethgen, who runs IRI’s regional program for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Our hope is that seasonal forecasts and other types of climate information will feed into emergency networks and early-warning systems currently operating in the region.”

To facilitate this, the IRI helped develop a website focused on supplying government staff, relief workers and development agents located in Haiti with the most up-to-date weather and climate forecasts for the country.

By making this information available through its ongoing partnerships with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the IRI hopes to alleviate some of these elevated storm risks for Haiti and ultimately help save lives this hurricane season.

The meeting, held in advance of the World Youth Conference, was chaired by OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin, and by CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development Edward Greene. It was attended by other CARICOM officials and OAS specialists, as well as by OAS Member States representatives, and featured a presentation of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development Report, as well as a presentation of the OAS Youth Strategy for the Americas.

During the meeting, Ambassador Ramdin stressed the importance of focusing on the challenges and opportunities of youth in the hemisphere, recalling that a majority of the population of Western hemisphere countries is less than 35 years of age.

“The fact alone that the majority of our population is young requires an organization like ours to focus on that segment of our society,” Ramdin said, and commented that “if we do not address the challenges and opportunities that youth can have in society now, in the future we’ll have to address other issues regarding security, crime, violence, and unemployment.”

Furthermore, Ramdin advocated for the participation of youth in the decision-making processes of the region, and reiterated the Organization’s commitment to help its Member States address the challenges of the youth in their countries. “Policy making without the youth is not policy making for the youth,” he said.

Finally, Ramdin reiterated the importance of working together to address the challenges of youth. “We intend to continue our partnership with CARICOM in addressing these issues,” he concluded, recalling that two years ago the OAS General Assembly, under the slogan, “Youth and Democratic Values,” focused on similar themes, and that important commitments were then made involving this segment of the population and its contribution to and participation in democracy.

One of most highly anticipated sessions at CHTIC 2010, Cuba – Will It Become The #1 Tourism Destination (May 6 at 9am) will, for the first time in CHTIC history, provide a thorough background on the Cuban tourism sector as well as insight to aid the investment and hospitality industry in their strategic planning for Cuba’s future. A major focus will be placed on the outlook for U.S. legislation to end the travel ban and the economic impact it will have on other destinations throughout the Caribbean.

Speakers on the panel include Emily Morris, who writes for the Economist Intelligence Unit on the subject; David Jessop, Director of Britain’s Cuba Initiative and Executive Director of the Caribbean Council; and Dr. Timothy Ashby, PhD, JD, MBA, a specialist on trade and investment strategies for Cuba.

“The opening of Cuba for U.S. tourists will have profound implications on the entire region,” said Enrique De Marchena Kaluche, President of CHTA. “It’s an exciting, long overdue moment in our history, but it must be carefully strategized to ensure the right kind of developments are in the pipeline as we prepare to welcome Cuba back into the mainstream tourism sector for the U.S. market,” De Marchena noted.

Lenders, developers and hospitality entities interested in doing business in Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean are encouraged to attend. Delegates will receive insight into Cuba’s infrastructure and tourism development policies. Panelists Emily Morris, Dr. Timothy Ashby and Dr. David Jessop have spent many years researching and working with Cuba.

Emily Morris is an Economist, specializing in Economic Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has been covering Cuba for fifteen years for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), where she worked as a Senior Editor/Analyst from 1995 to 2008. She currently works as Research Director at London Metropolitan University’s Centre for Caribbean and Latin American Research and Consultancy (CLARC), where she continues to provide Cuban economic forecasts for the EIU as well as developing a broader research and consultancy program on the economies of the region.

Morris is currently completing a doctoral thesis at London University on Cuba’s post-1990 economic adjustment in comparative context.

Specializing in developing strategies that will allow trade and investment in Cuba while remaining compliant with U.S. federal laws and regulations, Dr. Timothy Ashby is a licensed U.S. attorney who serves as an independent Counsel to the law firm Sonnenschein Nath Rosenthal LLP and as outside Counsel to the Caribbean Council in London, and to Coral Capital Group (BVI) Ltd.

Dr. Ashby served at the U.S. Commerce Department, International Trade Administration, as Director of the Office of Mexico and the Caribbean, during which he was involved in discussions with the Cuban government on issues such as compensation for expropriated U.S. assets, technical assistance in developing offshore oil deposits, telecommunications, and airline overflight and landing rights. He subsequently visited Cuba at the invitation of Cuba’s Ministry of Informatics and Communications (MINIT) to assess the island’s Information Technology development.

Dr. Ashby currently provides outside Counsel to the world’s largest cruise ship company as well as the second largest car rental brand in the world and to other international travel and tourism businesses, advising on a market entry strategy for Cuba in compliance with U.S. federal law and regulations.

He is regularly published on Cuba with topics including Land Tenure in Cuba: Implications and Potential Models for Foreign Real Property Holdings and Investment in a Future Cuba as well as Cuban Real Property – Current Laws & Future Prospects. He was recently featured at the 2009 CCAA Annual Miami Conference on the Caribbean & Central America where he presented on Cuban Real Estate – Laws and Guidelines.

David Jessop is the Director of Britain’s Cuba Initiative and the Executive Director of the Caribbean Council. He has worked on Caribbean issues for over thirty five years, advising and supporting governments, major industries, associations and companies on Caribbean investment, trade policy and related political issues.

In 1990 he founded and ran the Cuba Initiative under the guidance of the late Baroness Young and has been visiting Cuba since 1981. The initiative is a unique non-partisan, non-governmental body that has a counterpart in Havana involving senior Cuban ministers and officials.

The main influence on the headline rate has come from food prices which rose by 2.8 per cent during the month of February. On a year-on-year basis to February, food inflation measured 6.3 per cent, up
from 2.7 per cent in January.

Much of the increase represented higher prices for fruits and vegetables. After rising by 11.7 percent in January, fruit prices rose by a further 5 per cent in February. Vegetable prices rose by 6.1 per cent in February after declining by 1.6 per cent in January.

The rise in food inflation suggests that the severe drought is already beginning to have an effect on domestic food prices. This impact is likely to continue and even intensify in the next few months.

Core inflation, which excludes food prices, slowed to 4.0 per cent (year-on-year) in February from 4.2 per cent a month earlier. The main factor contributing to the deceleration in the core rate was a reduction in the prices of clothing and footwear which fell by 1.9 per cent in February following a decrease of 1.0 per cent in January.

Themed “The future of the financial services industry after the crisis”, the seminar will take place at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Trinidad on April 30th, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The formal opening will be chaired by Dr. Delisle Worrell, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados and CCMF Executive Committee Chairman. The feature address will be delivered by Hon. Karen Nunez Tesheira, Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Finance. Professor Clement Sankat, UWI Pro Vice Chancellor and St Augustine Campus Principal, and Mr. Ewart Williams, Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, will also deliver remarks.

Professor Kregel’s presentation is themed “Why the bailiouts aren’t working and why a new financial system is needed”. Professor Kregel is a senior scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and Director of the Monetary Policy and Financial Structure Program. He currently holds the positions of Distinguished Research Professor at the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Professor of Development Finance at the Tallinn University of Technology.

Mr Paulo Nogueira Batista, Jr, a well-known Brazilian economist, is also carded to speak on “The Reform of The International Financial Architecture” in the first session of the seminar. Since April 2007, Mr Batista has been the Executive Director for South American and Caribbean Countries, representing Brazil and a group of eight countries in the region at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Also expected to participate are: Michael Mansoor, First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados); Clarence Tong, Mizuho Corporate Bank Limited; Suresh Sookhoo, RBTT; Carol Ann Birchwood-James, Tobago Hotel Association; Yesu Persaud, Demerara Distillers Group of Companies (Guyana); and Dodridge Miller, Sagicor Financial Corporation (Barbados).

This international conference aims to identify new strategies for growth in financial services. It is a forum for the exchange of ideas on critical business, banking and financial issues facing emerging economies in the context of a global financial and economic meltdown of unprecedented proportions. It will serve to bring together, from the Caribbean and other emerging economies, leaders of the business communities, governmental policy makers and international scholars and researchers.
Every year the CCMF organises a seminar for top Caribbean executives on a topic of current interest, with presentations by international experts and Caribbean business leaders. Last year’s seminar, held at the Seabed Conference Centre, Kingston, Jamaica on September 4th, 2009, aimed to help senior executives of the Caribbean’s business and financial companies to cope with global financial and economic turmoil. Previous seminars dealt with risk management and financial stability.
For more information, please contact the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance at (868) 645-1174 or ccmf@sta.uwi.edu.