MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Senator Maxine McClean is calling on the private sector to get involved in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

She told the DAILY NATION in a recent interview that she was concerned the sector had not "used their initiative as well as they can" and the task was trying to get people to see the opportunities that exist within the agreement and build on them.

"It is one thing to suggest that we need to show people what opportunities are there, but this has been a process that has been negotiated over several years and I believe that the private sector needs to come together with the assistance of my ministry, [foreign trade] for example, to look at what opportunities are there," McClean said.

She added that the Dominican Republic was a part of the EPA agreement through CARIFORUM and "our position at the ministry is that those multi-lateral agreements are also implemented bi-laterally, from country to country".

"We've actually had some initial discussions with the Dominican Republic when I was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and that is one of the things that we want to do.

"We want very quickly to undertake some exploratory activities in and with the Dominican Republic and the officials there to look at how we can capitalise on the strengths that they have," McClean said.

The minister said the designers could use the resources that exist in the Dominican Republic to help them set up there.

The minister reminded that Barbados had set up an implementation unit with former ambassador to Brussels Errol Humphrey who would have been a critical part of that negotiating process.

"He fully understands at the level of implementation," she said.

In October last year, the CARIFORUM group, which comprises 14 Caribbean Community nations plus the Dominican Republic, signed the EPA with the European Union, with some provisions taking immediate effect.

The agreement gives the Caribbean countries immediate and indefinite duty-free, quota-free access to the European Union for most goods and services while committing to a phased removal of duties on European imports over the next 25 years. (DS)