Minister Robinson-Regis meets with CDF CEO

TRINIDAD:  April 26, 2016: Mr. Rodinald Soomer, CEO of the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) paid a courtesy call to Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis on April 26 to discuss Trinidad and Tobago’s continuing role in the CARICOM Development Fund.

The CARICOM Development Fund was established under Article 158 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.  The Agreement Relating to the Operations of the Fund was signed in July 2008 and the CDF began operating on August 24, 2009.  Trinidad and Tobago was a signatory to the Agreement establishing the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF in 2008).
 
The main purpose of the Fund is to provide financial or technical assistance to disadvantaged countries, regions and sectors, to address the disparities among the Member States of CARICOM which may result from the implementation of the CSME and to enable them to maximise the benefits of participation in the CSME.
 
This meeting focused on Key Areas of Activity of the CDF:
•           The Fund contributes to the sustainable economic development and social progress of CARICOM Member States individually and jointly.
•           In 2013, the CDF completed its fifth successful year of operation, implementing projects that had been developed in the context of Country Assistance Programmes (CAPs). The projects included:
o          support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
o          trade and export promotion
o          energy efficiency
o          strengthening managerial capacity and
o          infrastructural works
 
Funding and Strategic Planning
As at December 31, 2012 the total assessed contribution to the CDF was US$100 million of which US$91.8 million has been received.
 
Trinidad and Tobago made its full contribution of US$46.7 million (USS9.66 million came from the Petroleum Fund), representing approximately 51% of the total contribution received. 
At The Thirty-Fifth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government the CDF’s funding cycle was extended from December 31, 2014 to June 30, 2015.
Notwithstanding their individual economic problems, CARICOM Member States have nonetheless demonstrated a clear understanding of the need to support their regional partners. It is in this spirit that the Technical Working Group appointed by the Thirty-Fifth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government recommended a replenishment of CDF’s capital fund based on the first cycle formula, with general commitments to pay in two instalments by December 2016.