BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER and Minister of Finance Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas has left the Federation for the 21st Inter-sessional Meeting of Caribbean Heads of Government in Roseau, Dominica today (Mar. 11).
The two-day meeting will bring together Heads of Government from across the 15-nation sub-region who are expected to carry out discussions with regional and international financial institutions. World Bank President Robert Zoellick, along with the Inter American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will make presentations and discuss issues in the region’s economy.
According to a press statement issued earlier today by the Communications Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister, the CARICOM meeting will address the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the organization’s support for quake-stricken Haiti.
“The leaders will also zero in on the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement; the status of implementation of the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement and the renewal of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act.
“Consideration will also be given to climate change in the context of the region’s follow-up action to the Copenhagen Summit held last December, as well as preparations for upcoming summits, including a CARICOM-Brazil Summit in April,” the release informed.
The meeting comes one week after prime ministers and ministers of finance met in Basseterre, St. Kitts for the 66th Meeting of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Monetary Council. Similar concerns raised in that meeting, including debt reduction and gaining support from the international community, are expected to be discussed at the CARICOM level.
PM Douglas is accompanied by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Astona Browne and Foreign Service Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nyian Farrell.
Five leaders are expected to be absent for these discussions, namely the Prime Ministers of Belize, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the President of Suriname and the Chief Minister of Montserrat.
Details of the discussion will be publicized following the two-day meeting.
