Finance Minister calls for regional integration

Port-of-Spain: Finance Minister Winston Dookeran says he believes that regional integration may be the only solution to a number of problems facing Caribbean countries.

Speaking in the presence of Guyana's President  Bharath Jagdeo at the First Caribbean Development Round Table to be held in Trinidad and Tobago, Minister Dookeran said the the region remains susceptible to numerous global risks.

He believes the best solution to the problem is a deepening of the integration movement.

Minister Dookeran believes a new integration model for the region will incorporate all the established regional bodies that are essentially working toward the same goal.

He called on the Round Table participants to think outside the box in developing new approaches to regional sustainable development but in doing so he says policies must be put in place to prevent the exploitation of each country's resources.

He says Trinidad and Tobago is already taking steps toward regional integration by opening up its stock market to the region.