Indeed, the shift in geo-political economic dominance has been aided by the transforming effect of scientific innovation and technological change over the last few decades. It is acknowledged that the greatest influence of innovation and technology on the world, is being exerted by information and communication technologies (ICTs), advanced manufacturing and automation technologies, energy and natural resource technologies and healthcare technologies. The dynamic impact of such technological change is driving the reorganisation of production structures and corporate strategies around the world, with critical success factors involving the quality of human capital and access to scientific and innovation networks. Driven by the transformational effect of ICTs, the lowering of trade barriers and transport costs worldwide, most of global production is now increasingly taking place in what is referred to as “value chains”. These global value chains4 are distinctive by their close relationship with foreign direct investment, their heavy reliance on trade in intermediate goods, the high import content of exports and the important role of a vast array of services (financial, legal, logistical, design, communications, etc.) delivered via outsourcing to countries with the required competitive/comparative advantage. The integration into global value chains can be extremely beneficial for developing countries but there are some inherent risks relating to a country’s position in the production process which have to be managed carefully. These huge production networks currently being negotiated, have begun to spawn the creation of mega-markets by transforming the face of traditional regional integration processes. The proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving, inter alia, North and Latin America and Asia, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Asia, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) among major industrialized countries and some developing countries, are among initiatives aimed at harmonizing the rules governing the operations of the various production networks. However, they can also be seen as a response to the growing dominance of the emerging economies in world production and trade and their rules could considerably erode the policy space of developing countries like CARICOM States which are outside of these mega-markets. This transformation of production and trading strategies is occurring at a time when the process of climate change has emerged as a global issue thus raising issues related to energy 4 It has been estimated by UNCTAD that over 80% of the world’s exports of goods and services occur through trade among multi-national enterprises. 3|P a g e