While countries of the Caribbean try to obtain an extension of concessions at the various political negotiation fronts and argue for a recognition of the specific economic and climatic vulnerability, it is clear that time is running out and the need for effecting adjustments becomes more pressing. As a result, during the short time frame of five (FTAA) to eight years (EU) for managing the transition to fully open economies, a dual strategy is required:

1) to make the existing economic activities more competitive and

2) to create the conditions for attracting investments in new and more value-adding sectors of the economy.

In addition, most Governments pursue a policy of disinvestment and privatization that indicates another fundamental transition, namely that from the State as the main employer to the private sector, notably foreign companies. Finally, the countries are just about to engage in a process of regional and hemispheric integration that will generate a new dynamic of intraregional takeovers, mergers, franchises and joint ventures that will link the national economies and the labour markets of these small countries in a much closer way than currently perceived or wanted by its people.

As result, of these new factors, the labour markets have to be completely restructured, but also attitudes will have to undergo changes as globalization will force the adversaries of the past to become the allies of tomorrow.

The ILO strategy will have to be to associate itself with these processes of transformation by offering policy solutions that offer employment growth and competitive advantage by linking job creation and productivity enhancement with decent work policies and by linking labour market flexibility with high-road business strategies and not with downward harmonization of labour standards. This is to be accomplished in the following way:

• Support to the existing sectors aimed at achieving higher levels of job creation, productivity and improved working conditions
• Proactive building of capacity on the part of governments, enterprise management and labour to manage change and to create the conditions for high-road economic development and global competitiveness
• Monitoring and analysis of labour market processes and performance and building capacity for labour market restructuring
• Providing comparative information on the state of labour and labour market policies that could positively influence policy development and investment decisions.

1. In Jamaica, as a first step to developing a tripartite Protocol on productivity, a project proposal for the establishment of a National Tripartite Productivity Centre/Council is currently under preparation. An ILO consultant is currently under contract to produce a strategy document.

2. A workers' education guide on productivity bargaining is currently being finalized.

3. Within the framework of the PROMALCO project, a major meeting on the Caribbean Hospitality Industry: "The HR-Competitiveness Nexus" was held in Tobago in March 2001. The meeting dealt with labour relations, employment and HRD issues in the hotel and tourism sector.

4. Coordinating mechanisms were identified to strengthen delivery services for the disabled at both the national and sub-regional levels in the Caribbean at a technical meeting on strengthening rehabilitation services in the Caribbean, held in Port of Spain in March 2001. The meeting also assessed the state of national disability coordinating units, their employment services and ways for strengthening those services. In preparation for the March meeting, a study assessing both the status of disability policy and the capacity of selected organizations to address disability issues within the Caribbean was undertaken.

5. At the end of October 2001, a high level subregional meeting for producers and users of LMI was organized in Saint Lucia.

6. The production and use of labour market information for policy formulation was promoted at a two-week sub-regional introductory seminar on labour market analysis, organized in Port of Spain in February 2001 with funding from USDOL ($152,000). Consensus was also achieved on guidelines to design, adopt and implement a multi-annual plan for the development of a Labour Market Information System in the Caribbean sub-region.

7. The Office, in collaboration with KILM Geneva, developed a project proposal on the development of a Caribbean Labour Market Information System (LMIS), which will soon be submitted to the USDOL for consideration. The Project aims at achieving more effective labour, employment and labour market policies in the Caribbean that are responsive to the new challenges of regional and hemispheric integration and globalization by generating reliable, timely and internationally comparable LMI, at the national, regional and international levels.

8. The Office continued its work on providing up-to-date labour market statistics for the Caribbean subregion. The Office collaborates with ILO Headquarters in the establishment of labour market information library and in the development and harmonization of key indicators for the labour market (KILM) for the Caribbean

9. Registrars of cooperatives met in Jamaica in May 2001 to discuss the contribution of cooperatives to employment creation in the Caribbean and to review the ILO Report V(2) on the promotion of cooperatives in view of the discussions at the ILC 2001. At a Ministers of Cooperative Meeting in Jamaica in April a new enterprise-oriented cooperative policy was advocated 2001.

10. Publicity was given to the World Employment Report "The Workplace in the Information Economy" in Trinidad and Tobago in May 2001 in a joint ILO/ECA breakfast seminar.

11. The Office conducted an extensive research programme on employment and labour relations in the tourism industry in the sub-region in early 2000. The results will be published in the form of a publication.

12. The quality of employment in micro and small enterprises is currently being assessed through a study being conducted in Trinidad and Tobago. The study will identify areas in which business owners and workers are or could become motivated to make improvements.

13. In Barbados, a review of the policy, legal and regulatory framework and employment dimensions of micro and small enterprises is currently being undertaken. The results of this study will feed into a global comparative research project being undertaken by IFP/SEED to analyze the policy, legal and regulatory environment, the employment pattern in micro and small enterprises and the impact of the policy environment on the employment pattern.

14. In collaboration with the Small Business Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a two-week training of trainers workshop entitled "Improving the Work Environment and Managing People for Micro and Small Enterprises" was organized in May 2001. Following the workshop, consensus was arrived at that improvements in business performance and competitiveness could be effected through enhanced working conditions or job quality, in general.

15. Factors affecting women entrepreneurship in small and cottage industries, was the theme of a study undertaken in four Caribbean countries at the end of 2000. Essentially the study identified barriers and constraints facing potential and existing women entrepreneurs, and provided a series of recommendations which could be taken up by government, NGOs and donors etc. to improve the prospects for women's entrepreneurship development.

16. In November 2000, employers in Trinidad and Tobago participated in a two-day workshop on policy formulation for the development of small and medium enterprises.

17. In Jamaica, a review of the formal and non-formal training programmes aimed at skills and knowledge transfer among informal sector workers was undertaken at the end of 2000.

18. The need for TVET as a system to promote access to information flow on occupation-related topics has moved closer to fruition through the ILO Caribbean Office web site. The site now has a listing of approximately 100 publications with direct application to HRD and TVET issues in the region.

19. Three publications on small enterprise issues have been widely distributed in the subregion.

20. The ILO and the UNDP have agreed on the implementation of a subregional preparatory assistance project for SMEs with export potential under SPPD funding. The project strategy was discussed and finalized in the first quarter of 2001.

21. The Office produced and widely disseminated and advertised a sales publication on "Labour issues in the context of economic integration and free trade - a Caribbean perspective".

22. Development of an on-line labour market guide for policy makers and investors. The site will be continuously improved during the lifetime of the ILO/USDOL project. This guide will provide country profiles on the situation of the labour market as well as in the subregion as a whole. It will serve as a gateway to all available information on labour and labour market developments, including an analysis of trends. This guide is intended to support ILO's claim to be the most comprehensive and authoritative knowledge base on labour issues in the subregion.