(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown,
Guyana) The largest ever contingent of Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) leaders to gather in Washington
DC, USA began their series of meetings on Monday 18
June when the Foreign Ministers of CARICOM met with
the United States Secretary of State at the State
Department.
Thirteen of the Community’s Heads of Government
and the Secretary-General of CARICOM have gone to
Washington to participate in the "Conference on the
Caribbean: A 20/20 Vision" which ends on Thursday 21
June. The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and the
President of Suriname will not be attending but will
be represented. During the Conference, the Heads of
Government of CARICOM will meet with United States
President George Bush on Wednesday, 20 June, 2007.
CARICOM Heads of Government and their Foreign
Ministers also will meet with members of both Houses
of Congress and members of Cabinet, as well as
participate in fora involving the private sector,
international organisations and the Caribbean
diaspora.
The formal Opening Session under the theme
'CARICOM Development in the 21st Century'. will take
place on Tuesday 19 June at the Preston Auditorium
at the World Bank with the Prime Minister of
Barbados the Rt. Honourable Owen Arthur, who also has
the lead portfolio for the CARICOM Single Market and
Economy (CSME), and US Commerce Secretary
the Hon Carlos Gutierrez delivering the keynote
addresses.
The Chairman of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM), Dr the Hon Ralph Gonsalves, Prime
Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines will also
address the Session along with, the
Secretary-General of the Organisation of American
States (OAS), His Excellency Jose Miguel Insulza,
the President of the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB), His Excellency Luis Moreno and the Deputy
Managing Director of the World Bank, Mr Graeme
Wheeler. The Secretary-General of CARICOM His
Excellency Edwin Carrington will welcome
participants to the Conference.
The opening plenary will be followed by the Joint
Private Sector-Experts Session under the theme
'International Competitiveness of Caribbean
Countries'.
Other events on the packed first day include the
Diaspora Forum at the OAS Hall of the Americas under
the themes 'The Caribbean Disapora in Perspective'
and 'Challenges and Opportunities for Caribbean/US
Diaspora' and the opening of the official Art
Exhibition at the OAS Hall of Heroes by President of
Haiti, His Excellency Rene Preval.
On Day Two, three fora will be held concurrently:
the Experts Forum at the World Bank, the Private
Sector Dialogue at the IDB and the Diaspora Forum at
the OAS. The Experts Forum will comprise sequential
sessions under the themes of 'Education', 'Health &
Gender', 'Security and Competitiveness in a Global
Environment' and 'Physical Infrastructure for CARICOM's Growth and Global Competitiveness'. At the
Private Sector Dialogue, the theme for the
discussions is 'US-Caribbean Trade: Opportunities
for Growth'. The Diaspora Forum will examine topics
such as 'Economic and financial empowerment of
Caribbean-US Diaspora', 'Mobilising Caribbean-US
Diaspora Skills Knowledge and Professional
Networks', and 'Banking on the Future: Engaging the
Youth'. Participants will have the opportunity to
engage Heads of Government at that forum.
On the morning of the final day of the
Conference, there will be a joint Wrap-up Session at
the OAS, Hall of the Americas under the theme
'CARICOM Development in the 21st Century: The Way
Forward.' The official closing ceremony will be held
at the same venue.
CONTACT:
piu@caricom.org
