Bridgetown, Barbados – The CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO) welcomes the decision by four CARICOM Member States: Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to implement full free movement of nationals by October 1, 2025, under the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation. The CPSO is now calling on other CARICOM Member States to resolve outstanding administrative and legislative barriers and to adopt full free movement by December 31, 2025.
The call by the CPSO comes after CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of Jamaica, Dr. the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, disclosed during the closing Press Conference of the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, the decision by four Member States to move forward with full implementation. In his announcement, Dr. Holness also indicated that Jamaica was committed to implementing full free movement as it addressed the legislative and administrative constraints that had slowed its progress.
The CPSO celebrates these developments as a long-anticipated and necessary milestone for operationalizing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Since its establishment in 2020, the CPSO has consistently advocated for full free movement of labour across the Community, identifying it as a prerequisite for regional economic scale and resilience.
The Organization reiterated its position during the Business Forum Breakfast co-hosted with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica and Sandals Resorts, held on the margins of the 49th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in Montego Bay on July 8, 2025. At that event, the CPSO also advanced the idea that labour from countries such as Haiti should benefit from managed and phased arrangements to address critical labour shortages in key sectors.
In his remarks, Mr. Gervase Warner, Chairman of the CPSO, emphasized that the restriction of intra-regional labour mobility has long stymied growth in high-potential sectors such as construction, agriculture, tourism, and services.
“The post-COVID recovery, rising global competitiveness, and the scale of opportunities in countries like Guyana and Jamaica demand swift access to skilled and semi-skilled labour across the region,” he noted. “This is an essential condition for private-sector-led expansion.”
This sentiment was echoed by other business leaders at the forum. CPSO Executive Committee members Mr. Christian Mouttet, Chairman of Victor E. Mouttet Limited and Agostini’s Limited (Trinidad and Tobago), and Mr. William Mahfood, Chairman of the Wisynco Group (Jamaica), both founding CPSO members, shared similar views as they raised the issue of labour mobility directly with the Heads of Government in attendance at the Breakfast Session.
At that time, Prime Minister Holness, in his response, intimated that a formal announcement regarding free movement of labour in the Region would be made later that day: an announcement which he was confident would provide some reassurance to the private sector. Upon subsequently learning of the decision by the four Member States to implement full free movement, both Mr. Mahfood and Mr. Mouttet, expressed their satisfaction.
Dr. Patrick Antoine, CPSO’s CEO and Technical Director, disclosed that the organization had received direct outreach from both the authorities and private sector stakeholders in one CARICOM Member State regarding the potential provision of agricultural labour to support traditional crops including sugar, cocoa, banana, and nutmeg; all of which suffer from acute labour shortages.
“There clearly exists a meeting of the minds between those who want to supply labour and those who need it, and a new willingness on both sides to cooperate in whatever arrangements may be necessary to operationalize these ‘labour schemes’. However, this will ultimately require formal decisions by regional Governments.”
He further added, “The inability to access labour, especially higher-skilled labour, was a major binding constraint on the region’s ability to achieve the 25 by 2025 food security vision.”
Prime Minister Holness also announced that the Conference agreed to expand the the list of skilled categories under the CSME to include aviation personnel, photogrammetry specialists, field maintenance workers, and aircraft maintenance professionals.
The CPSO commends the decision of the Conference and the manifest leadership of the four implementing Member States. The Organization also acknowledges and welcomes Jamaica’s stated commitment to accelerate its own internal processes toward full implementation, having recognized it as an urgent priority for the Community, Jamaica’s economy and its private sector.
On behalf of the regional private sector, the CPSO continues to urge the remaining CARICOM Member States to urgently resolve the outstanding administrative and legislative issues so that the long awaited goal of full free movement of labour, desired by the People of CARICOM, can be realized by December 31, 2025.
The CPSO remains committed to working with Member States and the private sector to translate this important breakthrough into a fully realized framework for regional integration and shared prosperity.
About the CARICOM Private Sector Organization:
The CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO) is the most recently accredited Associate Institution of the Caribbean Community. The CPSO is a ‘Service Organization’ with a goal to mobilize and advance private sector participation in CARICOM, with a mandate to contribute to the full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). The Membership of the CPSO is comprised of private sector entities operating in the CARICOM space, including Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
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The CPSO Secretariat
Email: info@thecpso.org | website: www.thecpso.org
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