(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Prime Minister of Barbados the Rt Honourable Owen Arthur and United States Commerce Secretary Mr. Carlos Gutierrez will deliver the keynote addresses on behalf of CARICOM and the United States respectively, at the Plenary Opening Ceremony of the Conference on the Caribbean which begins in Washington DC on 19 June 2007.

It was stated earlier, in error, that the keynote address on behalf of the United States would have been delivered by US Secretary to the Treasury Henry Paulson Jr.

The three-day groundbreaking event will be held under the theme `Conference on the Caribbean: A 2020 Vision’. Its highpoint will be the CARICOM-US summit when CARICOM Heads of State and US President George W. Bush hold talks on 20 June 2007 at the White House.

The Plenary session on 19 June, which begins at 8:30 hrs at the Preston Auditorium, World Bank, will be held under the theme `CARICOM Development in the 21st Century: Economic Growth with Social Equity’.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org