(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) highlighted the central role of Suriname in the Community as he ended his official visit to that country.

Speaking at a press conference at the Presidential Complex in Paramaribo on Wednesday, the Secretary-General said that Suriname’s involvement in the integration movement could be gauged among other things by the fact that three Community institutions had their headquarters in Paramaribo. These are the CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC); the Caribbean Regional Information and Translation Institute (CRITI) and the CARICOM Health and Safety Agency (CAHFSA).

All three of these institutions were critical to the work of the Community, the Secretary-General said and revealed that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas would soon be available in Dutch, the official language of Suriname, through the work of CRITI.

The Secretary-General also pointed to the formidable and active role being played by the Suriname private sector both in commercial activity and the umbrella organisations in the Community.

Ambassador LaRocque welcomed the initiative advanced by the President of Suriname His Excellency Desi Bouterse and the Vice President His Excellency Robert Ameerali for internships at the CARICOM Secretariat for Surinamese nationals. He said that such an initiative would benefit both the Community and Suriname, as well as the CARICOM Secretariat.

The Secretary-General once again praised the level of youth involvement in the country and stated that the highlight of his visit was his exchange with the youth on Tuesday. He said he was highly impressed with the vision and forward thinking of the young people as well as with their commitment and keenness to spread the word of integration. He recalled that it was a Surinamese youth representative, Ms Yildiz Beighle, who was co-chair of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development which presented its report at a Summit in Paramaribo in January 2010.

Activities such as the work with youth were important as CARICOM was not only about trade and business, Ambassador LaRocque pointed out, but also about people. It was in that aspect of CARICOM’s work that Suriname had lead responsibility within the quasi cabinet of CARICOM Heads of Government. President Bouterse is the lead on Community Development and Cultural Co-operation which includes the areas of Gender, Culture, Youth and Sport.

Responding to a question on the restructuring of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Secretary-General indicated that he was hopeful that the report of the team of consultants undertaking this task would be available “early in the New Year”. The consultants would report to an independent project management team comprised of representatives of Member States lead by Ambassador Wendell Lawrence of St Kitts and Nevis.

“I welcome the review as any organisation needs from time to time to look at itself to identify what it is not doing well and those things that it has been doing well,” the Secretary-General said. He further stated that “we have to do things differently not only in the Secretariat but also in the Community.”

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