PRIME Minister Andrew Holness yesterday announced that former Prime Minister Bruce Golding will chair a Caribbean Community (Caricom) Review Commission to be established by the Government.

He said that the commission would aim at positioning Jamaica to take full advantage of benefits available under the Caricom umbrella.

“The time has come to fully assess the benefits, opportunities and challenges of Caricom, and to assert ourselves in such a way that Jamaica gets the full benefits that membership in Caricom promises,” he said.

He added that the review commission will evaluate the effects that Jamaica’s participation in Caricom has had on Jamaica’s economic growth and development, with particular reference to trade, investment, international competitiveness and employment creation; and analyse Caricom’s performance against the goals and objectives enunciated in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and identify the causes of any shortcomings.

The commission will also review Caricom’s arrangement, in light of the wider Caribbean, inclusive of the Dominican Republic and Cuba, as well as the impact of globalisation;,and assess the value of Jamaica’s membership in the grouping and its influence in critical international fora.

In addition, the commission will assess the benefits that Jamaica has derived through functional cooperation within the Caricom framework, and make recommendations for Jamaica’s regional alignments with regard to, but not limited to Caricom.

“Our foreign policy must support our economic and development policy,” the prime minister concluded.