GEORGETOWN, Guyana – CARRIBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) Secretary-General Dr. Edwin Carrington announced this week that the Secretariat of the regional grouping would not be requesting a budget increase.
According to Kaieteur News, the announcement came after the 23rd Meeting of CARICOM’s Council of Ministers, which was held at the organisation’s Secretariat in Guyana earlier this week.
Carrington stated that despite the depth of the global financial and economic crisis, and its impact on member countries, the Secretariat would not request any increase in the 2009 budget over that of 2008. He stressed the organisation’s determination to do as much as possible with their current level of resources.
The Secretary-General also told the ministers that they would have to review the status report on the Secretariat’s strategic plan for 2009 to 2013, noting that this step was “important in this crucial life period of the Community as we seek to establish the Single Economy and consolidate the Single Market”.
He also revealed that the Meeting provided a first look at a proposed strategic approach to CARICOM relations with the new US administration and he expressed the Community’s desire for early engagement with the Obama administration.
Within the next two months the CARICOM Secretariat is set to be involved in two important summits.
The first is the Twentieth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government to be held in Belize in March.
In April, Trinidad and Tobago will host the Fifth Summit of the Americas, which marks the first time the prestigious event has been held in the Caribbean and in a CARICOM member state.
Guyana News