(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community is a focus of Australia’s foreign policy priorities.

Addressing the Thirteenth Meeting of CARICOM’s Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), 5-6 May, in Roseau, Dominica, Australia’s Minister of Foreign, Affairs, Hon Stephen Smith said that his central message is that Australia wants to continue to enhance its ties with The Community and its Members.

Foreign Minister Smith drew attention to this being the first visit by an Australian Foreign Minister to Dominica and the first time that an Australian Foreign Minister has formally addressed a meeting of the COFCOR. He said “my presence here underlines Australia’s commitment to our relationship with CARICOM”. Reiterating that “over the past two years, Australia has looked with fresh eyes at our foreign policy interests and we have sharpened our foreign policy priorities“.

Australia’s development partnership with CARICOM focuses on three areas of special interest: Combatting the negative effects of Climate Change and reducing the risks posed by natural disasters; building regional economic resilience and supporting regional economic integration; and strengthening people-to-people linkages through volunteer programs, scholarships and fellowships and other exchanges.

The new relationship between Australia and CARICOM was first highlighted with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between CARICOM and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Port-of-Spain in November 2009 in the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. This was followed by the formal accreditation of Australia’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago on 30 April 2010 as Australia’s first Plenipotentiary Representative to CARICOM.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org