Dec. 3--The U.S. financial meltdown is starting to impact Caribbean nations, but the effects so far appear to be manageable, government and business officials attending a regional conference in Miami said Tuesday.

Still, much of the discussion at the Miami Conference on the Caribbean and Central America centered on ways to confront the global financial crisis that has started to ripple through the region.

Caribbean nations that rely heavily on tourism are already seeing sharp declines in bookings, while exporters in Central America are facing less demand for their products, said Anton Edmunds, executive director and chief executive of Caribbean-Central American Action, a private sector group that organized the annual conference, which is now in its 32nd year and attracted more than 370 participants.

Both the Bahamas and neighboring Turks and Caicos are seeing their financial outlook steadily deteriorate as condo and property sales to foreigners soften and new development projects grind to a halt due to lack of access to credit by financially strapped foreign developers.

"The impact of this crisis on the smaller economies is critical. Regional countries have to unite to realistically respond to common problems," Edmunds said in an interview.

Though Jamaica is heavily dependent on remittances and tourism, so far officials say they haven't seen any significant downturn. But experts say the longer the U.S. crisis continues, the more likely declines will occur.

Even Trinidad and Tobago, with enormous reserves of natural gas, is suffering from lower export prices for its liquefied natural gas, oil, steel and petrochemicals.

One reason small-island economies may not be yet in a panic is due to the strength of local banks and efforts by the region's Central Banks to provide assistance, said Robert Norstrom of the Bank of St. Lucia.

TOUGH YEAR AHEAD?

Norstrom credited strengthened regulatory policies for providing some financial cushion from the U.S. meltdown.

"The region will be going though a very difficult 2009," predicted Pasquale Minicucci, Scotiabank's senior vice president of international banking for the Caribbean region.

Countries with floating currencies -- Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana -- appear to be weathering the financial storm a bit better.

However, Marlene Street-Forrest of the Jamaica Stock Exchange said the island nation, which has the largest stock exchange in the region, has suffered some fallout from "lack of investor confidence" in the U.S. market.