GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC - A Caribbean Community (CARICOM) official has rejected criticisms that the region is not well prepared for global trade negotiations and is lagging behind the rest of the world in technical capacity. Fay Housty, Executive Director, Foreign and Community Relations at the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the region "is much better off today than a decade ago," in the realm of negotiations, especially at the level of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "Our technical capabilities match those in any part of the world," Housty said in response to a suggestion from University of the West Indies (UWI) lecturer, Dr Ranjit Singh, that the region lagged some 10 to 15 years behind the rest of the world in technical capacity in relation to trade negotiations.