Bdos: Some say no to FTAA and WTO

THE Government does not appear to be listening to protests by activists among its employees. They demand that Barbados disengage from arrangements such as the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and from commitments to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

If Government is listening, it is certainly not being swayed. Polite silence is all that greets arguments from those objectors who currently receive prominence in local and foreign out of all proportion to their popularity and numbers. We do not suggest there are no built-in disadvantages for small states in the FTAA. As Foreign Minister Dame Billie said recently in Parliament, she never saw any such thing as a level playing field.

According to Prime Minister Owen Arthur, instead of standing on the outside and fretting about inequality, engagement must be the rule if small economies are to stand any chance of reasonable treatment by powerful trading partners.

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