Secretary General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRoque, says it would be shortsighted of any member state to leave the Caribbean grouping because of trade issues.

There have been calls here for Jamaica to leave the regional grouping, because of perceived trade imbalances between Jamaica and its CARICOM partners, particularly Trinidad and Tobago.

During the recently-concluded budget debate, Opposition spokesman on industry

Karl Samuda insisted that Jamaica does not appear to be benefiting from CARICOM.
Samuda said the time was running out on Jamaica to make a decision about
leaving CARICOM.

But speaking on Smile Jamaica on TVJ this morning, LaRoque said trade was
only a small segment of the regional integration movement and should not be an issue over which a decision to leave the community is made.

And LaRoque says Jamaica benefits far greater from the trade in services within the region than its CARICOM neighbours.

debbie-ann.wright@gleanerjm.com