(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago will hold talks with four countries and an international financial institution on the margins of the meeting which takes place in Port of Spain, on 27-29 November 2009.

His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM told reporters on Monday prior to his departure for the Meeting, that the Heads of Government will have bilateral discussions with Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa, and possibly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Heads of Government are to meet Thursday 26 for discussions ahead of the bilateral meetings.

The Secretary-General said that in each case where there was an agenda for those meetings, climate change and the international financial and economic crisis were common items.

Climate change is expected to eclipse the other agenda items of the Summit and the Secretary-General said the Community would view as an achievement any positive outcome on the key areas of importance to CARICOM ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

CHOGM is the last major international conference prior to 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen 7-18 December.

The Secretary-General said that if the Region garnered significant support for the target of keeping the rise of global temperatures to a limit of 1.5 degrees Centigrade that would be an achievement worthy of note. CARICOM last week unveiled its campaign to promote the Region’s collective position on climate change, under the theme `1.5 °C to Stay Alive’.

In addition to the two main issues, Australia has indicated its willingness to strengthen relations with Latin America and the Caribbean.

Referring to the special relationship that existed between CARICOM and Canada, the Secretary-General said talks were likely to focus on the trade and development negotiations that began recently as well as on the possibility for a CARICOM/Canada Summit next year.

The Secretary-General said that the Community will raise the recently imposed travel tax with the United Kingdom, and while he was not hopeful about a reversal of the decision, a positive outcome would be a rebanding of the tax to the Caribbean.

Forging links with between CARICOM and the African Union is among the items the Region will consider with South Africa.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org