BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LEADERS from around the region will gather in St. Kitts for next month’s PetroCaribe Summit.
The sixth edition of the event will be held on Friday, June 12 at a yet-to-be-determined location. The announcement was made yesterday (May 27) by Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas at his monthly press conference.
Douglas also disclosed that a ministerial meeting of Energy Ministers from the PetroCaribe member states would precede the Summit and would be chaired by the Federal Minister of Energy, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin.
According to the Prime Minister, the Summit is expected to be attended by some 18 Heads of State from the PetroCaribe region including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Raul Castro.
He expounded on the benefits the conference would bring, stating “it will provide a tremendous opportunity to continue the dialogue with our regional partners to further discuss and agree on a collective strategic response to the current global economic and financial crisis”.
Under the PetroCaribe agreement, Venezuela provides oil under preferential terms to every CARICOM nation except Haiti, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. The payment system allows for a few nations to buy oil on market value but only a certain amount is needed up front; the remainder can be paid through a 25-year financing agreement of one percent interest.
The agreement was launched in 2005.
