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| Photo of St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas by ERASMUS WILLIAMS |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MAY 5TH 2005 - The Federations Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas is in Barbados Thursday to chair the first meeting of the Caribbean Forum for Development (CFD).
The Caribbean Forum for Development, formerly the Caribbean Group for Cooperation in Economic Development (CGCED), is now the main forum of coordination and consensus building among Caribbean Leaders/Policy Makers and the international donor community on development issues.
Thursdays opening session will also be addressed by Prime Minister Douglas; the President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Compton Bourne and a representative of the Washington, D.C.-based World Bank.
Under the theme Managing Transformation for Competitiveness, the May 5th and 6th dialogue will allow participants to explore policies and strategies needed in the medium term for successfully repositioning the Caribbean within the international economy in light of the radically changed circumstances existing in the global economic and trade environment.
Beyond the discussion on macro-economic policy solutions, Prime Ministers, Ministers of Finance, Economists and technocrats will also examine some of the main building blocks for managing and sustaining change associated within their respective societies and economies and how these can best be supported.
During the two-day meeting Barbados Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Chair of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Right Hon. Owen Arthur, will address the issue of the CSME as an instrument for Growth and Transformation; Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Hon. Patrick Manning, will make a presentation on Managing Economic Integration for Balanced Growth, and the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves on An appropriate Governance Framework for the Future.
A panel discussion on Opitmising the Caribbean Human Resource for Development and Competitiveness will include presentations by Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr. Winston Cox and United Nations Special Envoy on AIDS to the Caribbean, Sir George Alleyne.
Other Caribbean financial and economic experts and bankers are also expected to attend.
Prime Minister Douglas, who is also Minister of Finance, is accompanied by Acting Financial Secretary, Mrs. Janet Harris and Senior Project Analyst in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Ms. Shirley Skerritt.
