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OAS PROVIDES TANGIBLE SUPPORT FOR CARIBBEAN TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

Taking the partnership another step forward, the Organization of American States yesterday signed an agreement with the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) for the next stage of a trade and statistical database prototype to support Caribbean trade development.

OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin and CRNM Director-General Henry Gill signed the licensing agreement for the Barbados-based organization to use the OAS software. The signing was part of a ceremony that took place at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in St. Michael, just outside of Bridgetown, Barbados.

This latest signing follows the launch earlier this year of an OAS-CRNM partnership on a database prototype for the Caribbean organization to develop an in-house trade database system. Under the partnership, the Washington-based OAS is providing technical assistance for CRNM to acquire and utilize the information and document management system (IDMS) software, and train its personnel to use the OAS-created program for efficient document management. The introduction of this system will be a boon to government officials, negotiators, researchers, policy analysts and business executives by providing a user-friendly tool to access the rich collection of data on trade and economic development issues and related negotiations.

“With today’s agreement, the OAS has made good on its pledge to support capacity-building and institutional strengthening in the Caribbean so that the region can take meaningful advantage of the full spectrum of development opportunities,” Ambassador Ramdin observed.

“This agreement also represents a vital and tangible contribution of the OAS towards Member States’ efforts to deliver to their citizens the fruits of democratic development,” he continued.

“By placing a key resource like the IDMS at the disposal of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery, the OAS is in fact putting concrete action behind its pledge,” Ramdin added. He further noted that this initiative is only one of a number of important projects that the OAS plans to implement in the Caribbean in upcoming months.

Welcoming the OAS’ support, meanwhile, Ambassador Henry Gill, the CRNM Director-General remarked: “To a technical institution like the CRNM, document management is an essential function to cope with the tremendous number of electronic and hard copy documents generated. The acquisition of this software, which has been made possible through the technical support of the OAS, comes at a critical time in CRNM’s implementation of a wider process of restructuring of our institution-wide registry system. As we continue our mandate, this software will help provide the capacity for CRNM to better organize and streamline its work.”

By making the regional organization’s document management more efficient, the IDMS software will allow the CRNM to improve its capacity to service its member states and facilitate greater information sharing, which is essential to the formulation of negotiating positions.

Reference: E-392/08