_{Family Photo | 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM}

by Charles Gladden

JAMAICA, Mon. July 14, 2025

Citizens of four CARICOM countries will have the ability to move freely among these nations come October in a major step forward in regional integration under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

This decision was announced at the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government, which was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from July 6 to 8, by Dr. Andrew Holness, CARICOM Chairman and Jamaican Prime Minister.

Those countries will be Barbados, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica.

“We agreed that the pace and scope of implementation were just too slow, and decided that we would do everything in our power to speed up implementation,” said Prime Minister Holness.

He expressed that these nations continued their willingness to adapt to full free movement under the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation, which all CARICOM members signed in 2023 with the aim to eliminate the need for work permits or skills certificates for nationals moving across CARICOM borders.

This will now provide free movement for skilled nationals to conduct business or offer services in other participating member states without restrictions. Qualified workers can seek employment in other member states without needing work permits.

“As to the free movement of skilled people in CARICOM, we signed on to it; but what he said, let us have a three-year period as we work out the kinks to make people move in and out more freely. If you were to talk to the private sector, they would tell you we need more people, we need more workers, not only at the lower level, but middle management and upper management. So, we are hoping that by doing that, maybe instead of bringing people from England or anywhere in the world, our CARICOM brothers and sisters can come to Belize to help with the development of this country,” said John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize.

Progress will be reviewed at the upcoming CARICOM–Africa Summit in Ethiopia this September.

The countries named above are expected to implement the free movement across the region on October 1, as part of CARICOM’s broader 2030 agenda for deeper economic and social integration.