A group of 10 insurance companies operating out of Guyana recently met with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to discuss cross-border insurance solutions and legal requirements in support of a proposed inter-regional ferry service.
Assistant Secretary-General (ag), Economic Integration, Innovation and Development, Dr. Wendell Samuel led the CARICOM team which included Director, Sectoral Services, Ambassador David Prendergast and Deputy Programme Manager, Transportation, Dr. Pauline Yearwood.
The engagement forms part of ongoing efforts to advance the long-anticipated ferry project, which has been gaining traction among regional leaders.
“The meeting was held as part of the CARICOM Secretariat’s discussions with key stakeholders in the insurance sector to support an inter-governmental working group on transportation, which was established at the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in Barbados in February,” a CARICOM release said.
The inter-governmental working group, led by Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Dr Amery Browne, includes ministers from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The body is tasked with identifying steps toward mutual recognition of drivers’ licences and insurance products, harmonisation of customs and phyto-sanitary regulations, and the removal of non-tariff barriers to ease intra-regional trade.
This was the second engagement with the insurance sector since the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting. In February, CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General Dr Armstrong Alexis held talks with Mr Yogindra Arjune, Managing Director of Assuria N.V. (Guyana) and President of the Insurance Association of Guyana, to explore the regional insurance landscape and pinpoint areas requiring immediate attention.
