Above: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Economic Development is “concerned” over the potential effect of remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that three CARICOM states are “tax havens.”

In a statement, COTED said “the member states of the Caribbean Community, like Europe, are seeking to reignite growth, create jobs and ensure financial stability.”

“We are therefore deeply concerned by the recent statements made by the President of France at the end of the G20 Summit last month which identified Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago as “tax havens,” the body said in a statement.

COTED said the remarks did not recognize efforts made by Caribbean countries to bring their legal and regulatory farmeowkr into compliance with the global standard.

“Given our member states’ ongoing collaboration and cooperation with the Global Forum in order to ensure that their legal and regulatory framework meets the global standard, such characterization of CARICOM states is subjective and completely without basis,” COTED said. “We therefore categorically reject the President’s assertions with respect to CARICOM states.”