Yearwood. Thank you, Mr. Meeks. Thank you for your management on Caribbean issues. I am going to take on two issues here mainly, and I will leave my colleagues to resolve some of the others. I think among the key concerns that the Caribbean has is competitiveness. And I think to make better usage of U.S.- Caribbean trade agreements a lot of the competitive problems need to be addressed - What is a consumer finance company. I discussed in my testimony that the IDP they are doing a great deal of deal with trade facilitation. That is going to be essential to getting the Caribbean wesley financial group bbb more able to type of have single windows, reduce the costs of transport, and decrease the expense of clearance in moving items.
Issues such as traveling from one Caribbean island to the other can be more pricey than going to Miami and after that returning down. So there are a great deal of issues that the Caribbean needs to tackle in order to become a more competitive location to do company and to trade more efficiently. I didn't wish to, nevertheless, not take the chance to say something about Haiti. I did live there for 13 years and I do follow what is going on there really carefully. And I believe it is incredibly vital that the HOPE costs not simply go to 2020, but go-- there needs to be some sustainability to what is going to be successful the HOPE expense following 2020.
Parliament is shaky to say the least, kind of an interim President that might or may not constitutional. I am not a Haitian constitutional professional, however I have concerns. But at this point in time, what Haiti needs more than anything else as soon as this specific juncture of political trouble is gotten rid of, Haiti is going to need sustainability and stability to its relationship for trade and financial investment with the United States. So I believe that is an important concern that the Congress needs to keep its eye on. Thank you. Mr. Meeks. Yes, sir. Mr. Farnsworth. If I might merely reinforce what Sally just stated, the issue of competitiveness is genuine and we handle the organization neighborhood all the time.
Therefore there has to be in my Additional hints view a singular attention to investment environment concerns. Energy becomes part of that. It is certainly not the only element. I believe we likewise have to understand unexpected consequences. And you have actually done some truly great undoubtedly on the trade program, Mr. Meeks. Plainly the TPP is something that Council of the Americas supports. We appreciate your management and others of the subcommittee on that. However there are maybe some unintentional effects. And for instance, when the North American Open Market Contract was first passed among the greatest supporters for something that became called NAFTA Parity was Ambassador Richard Bernal of Jamaica who entered into the U.S.
It is a good idea, however we desire to make sure that Jamaica and the other Caribbean nations are not adversely impacted by the trade and investment diversion that might go to Mexico as a result of NAFTA. I think that was a really crucial point then and it is a really essential point now. And to the extent that TPP moves forward, and once again I hope that it does. I highly support it and we hope that it is a near term problem. Nonetheless, with some brand-new entrants into textiles, for example, and farming that are highly competitive in the international environment that will impact nations in the Caribbean Basin.
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taxpayer help to which we support, but once again the problem is one of trade and investment diversion. We need to be cautious that doing the "ideal thing" with other economies we are not adversely impacting some economies which are already stressed. And so what is the response here? I think the response is to go back to the original idea in some method of NAFTA Parity only this is TPP parity, right? If Haiti, for instance, is reliant on the fabrics trade with the United States, we I think need to make sure that whatever we do in TPP does not needlessly undermine that or does not produce problems in a way that would take away some of those advantages that Congress has actually worked so hard over the years to establish.
So my point is that if we look at these in a more extensive method, in a way that where you have a lot of various, combination of different hairs, then I think we will come to a better place. Therefore as we are taking a look at these problems strategically, I simply extremely much assistance the way that you are putting this in the context of it is not simply this issue or that concern or another issue, it is all of these together and how can we move on in a comprehensive integrated manner in support of the Caribbean, and I think that is what we have to keep foremost in mind.
Bernal. Let me begin by thanking you, Congressman Meeks, for your constant management on Caribbean issues. In action to the problem that you raise, I believe that the onus is not just on the U.S (What does ltm mean in finance). however is on the Caribbean. We in the Caribbean have to do some things to make it simpler for business to run and to end up being worldwide competitive. I remain persuaded that if we produce the best type of Check out here environment between the U.S. and the Caribbean that there is economic sector initiative on investment and there are opportunities, really real opportunities which can take location by integrating Caribbean and U.S.