To overcome some of the disadvantages faced by the less developed countries for "CSME-readiness", Arthur said it was critical to establish the promised Regional Development Fund (RDF) as an instrument to "deepen functional co-operation".
Arthur, who has responsibility for CSME implementation arrangements, told the media before yesterday's start of the 26th CARICOM Summit: "We must find ways to work together over the next six months to enable the countries of the OECS (Organisation of East Caribbean States) sub-region to overcome the specific problems they face to access the single market component of the CSME in the first instance."
He saw the RDF being critical to assisting the less developed countries and urged the summit to take a definitive position on the proposals for its establishment as outlined in a report from the Caribbean Development Bank.
The Prime Minister said while some OECS countries were stressing their concerns for better concessions to access the CSME, they would also need to be conscious of the importance of introducing new fiscal measures, such as value added tax, to lessen their heavy dependence on import duties, aware that it could be unpopular in the short-term.
Pointing to the need for greater emphasis on deepening functional co-operation, Arthur pointed to the importance of improving sea and air transportation, as a critical area for the movement of goods, services and people to help make the CSME "a lived reality".
Without modernising and expanding the transportation sector, he stressed, benefits of the CSME would be very difficult to be realised by the governments and people of the community.