The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, the Latin American Economic System (SELA) and the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation (AECI) will meet at the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Secretariat's offices in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 29-30 October 1999.

This meeting comes in the wake of the discussions held last July in Port-of-Spain between CARICOM leaders and the Prime Minister of Spain, Don Jose Maria Aznar prior to the XIX Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.

Items down for discussion include co-operation in tourism and related services, fisheries development, support for the teaching of Spanish as a second language, business facilitation as a means of deepening relations between the Region and Spain, and other areas of possible co-operation.

The Spanish delegation will include five Assistant Directors-General of the AECI, the Spanish Ambassador in Jamaica, and representatives of the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.

The discussions, entitled, "Spain And The Caribbean: Towards A New Dynamism In Bilateral Relations", take place against the background of a thrust by the Anglophone-Caribbean to expand its trade and external relations and coincide with the Spanish move to extend its hemispheric relations beyond its traditional partners. Trinidad and Tobago's Foreign Minister, the Hon Ralph Maraj will deliver the feature address at the Opening.