Head of a regional sporting body is high in praise of CARICOM’s approach to sports, entertainment and culture.
Mr. Brian Lewis, President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees – the umbrella body for the Olympic and Commonwealth Sports Movement in the Caribbean – said that measures being taken by the regional integration movement under the Services Sector to promote those industries were laudable.
Mr. Lewis was in Guyana for the one-day Special Meeting of the that was held at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.
He was particularly pleased with the strategic plan and the action plan for sporting services which were among the main agenda items of the Meeting. Delegates also discussed the plans related to professional services, cultural and entertainment services, Information and Communication Technologies, Sporting, Education, Health and Wellness Services, and Tourism Services.
Deputy Programme Manager for Services at the CARICOM Secretariat, Mr. Timothy Odle, explained that the plan treats with sports as a business. It envisions the sub-sector moving forward to capitalise not only on the heavy investments governments had made with the hosting of Cricket World Cup in 2007, but also on the billion dollar earnings of the sports sub-sector.
Ministers decided that shareholders in the sports, culture, education and entertainment industries needed more time to familiarize themselves with the proposals that were identified in the plans in order to effectively implement them.
A joint meeting of education and sports stakeholders is scheduled for mid-March. Mr. Lewis’ organisation has agreed to work closely with the Secretariat on the finalisation of the regional initiatives as it relates to sports, Mr. Odle said.