Prime Minister Bruce Golding yesterday warned Jamaica’s Caribbean neighbours against falling prey to countries wishing to capitalise on the breakdown in preferential arrangements with the region’s traditional trading partners.

“We have seen signs already in this region to suggest that we have good reason to be concerned, that once that vacuum is created, once the kind of helping hand on which we have been able to rely for so long is no longer there, or certainly no longer as firmly available as it used to be, there is a vacuum that other forces may want to seek to fill and, within the region, right now there are forces at work,” Golding cautioned.

“I put it no stronger than that. And we have to be very, very careful that we don’t get into some new, limited though it might be, but some new adventure that seeks to disturb the business environment of the region,” he added.

Golding noted that the foreign policy of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), especially as it relates to Jamaica’s relations with the United States, has not changed in 60 years.

He was speaking to a packed house of businesspeople attending the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) of Jamaica’s fourth Speaker’s Forum Luncheon at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.

Although Golding did not name the countries that, he felt, would seek to capitalise on any trade relations vacuum, his warning was an apparent reference to Venezuela which has been wooing Caribbean support with offers of aid and affordable oil payment arrangements.

Golding was given a standing ovation prior to his speech and another as he ended and rushed out of the ballroom for Parliament’s 2:00 pm meeting.

The prime minister’s statement took on added importance as it came on the eve of the special meeting of CARIFORUM, the union of CARICOM countries plus Cuba and the Dominican Republic, which has been negotiating European Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU) since 2004.

Cuba is not participating in this week’s meeting, which will be held at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay tomorrow and Friday.

The meeting is expected to be attended by, at least two Caricom prime ministers – Owen Arthur of Barbados and Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines – as well as EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and Louis Michel, the EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid.

Golding said that he was striking a note of caution, in light of the new dispensation, with Jamaica’s geopolitical position no longer as commanding as it used to be and countries, like the United States, being faced with greater demands and having to adjust their priorities.

He noted that this week’s CARIFORUM meeting would try to come to terms with the new reality, as well as to ensure that there is a platform on which the developing countries can build economies that can sustain growth.