CARICOM Member States share similar constraints to economic development and trade expansion including high transpor- tation; energy and communication costs, which undermine competitiveness; geo- graphical fragmentation, which inhibits
intra-regional trade; and limited success in capitalizing on bilateral trade agreements. In addition, the small size of CARICOM economies limits not only their productive capacity and their ability to achieve requi- site economies of scale, but also their in- ternal market. Not surprisingly, despite a concerted effort to strengthen regional in- tegration and reduce over-dependence on external markets, intra-regional trade still only accounts for an estimated 12 percent of total CARICOM trade, and the Region’s exports are still limited to a narrow range of products and markets.
Based on the World Bank 2011 Doing Business survey,53 all countries in the Region except three have fallen in the overall rank- ings. The report ranks economies on their ease of doing business from 1 to 183. A high ranking suggests that the regulatory envi- ronment is more conducive to starting-up and operating a firm. Red tape-related trade costs, which are both monetary and time- related, are generally higher in developing economies