Globalisation

According to Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, globalisation is defined as "the trend towards increasing inter-relationships and integration among countries in the international economy through international trade, free markets, foreign direct investments, and capital mobility."

Globalisation can be characterised by four types of change. It involves the stretching of social, political and economic activities across political frontiers, regions and continents. It suggests the growing magnitude of interconnectedness Ð'- in areas such as flows of trade, investment, finance, migration and culture. The growing intensity of interdependence as world trade systems of communication and transport increases the speed of ideas, goods, information, capital and people across regions and continents. The impact of the growing intensity of interdependence such that the effects of distant events can be highly significant elsewhere which may even lead to enormous global consequences.

The globalisation process poses significant challenges to small developing countries such as the Caribbean. The process of globalisation has touched every aspect of Caribbean life. For Caribbean countries, the impact of globalisation on trade has been reflected in the increased liberalisation and open-market policies.

The reduction of trade barriers and the increasing openness of these economies have not led to a significant increase in intraregional trade or helped them to obtain a growing share of the extra-regional export market; as a result, the growth of these countries' potential has been limited. Caribbean economies have not changed the composition of their exports, but however, are dependent on preferential market access schemes granted by developed countries.

During the past decade, a number of significant global political and economic events took place. The signing of the Uruguay Round of Talks under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Agreement at Marakkesh in 1994 resulted in the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The WTO agreements on free trade have functioned principally to prise open markets