Mr. Chairman
Deputy Prime Minister
Honourable Ministers
Your Excellencies Ambassadors to the Caribbean Community
Assistant Secretaries-General and Members of Staff of the Secretariat
Distinguished Delegates
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

Just three days ago, in this very room I welcomed members of the Council of Trade and Economic Development to their 14^th Meeting. Today, with pleasure as I welcome you Honourable Ministers, distinguished delegates and members of the Media, to this the 11^th Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers, forgive me if I were to wonder how fast time has moved since last Friday.

In extending a warm welcome to you all I wish to convey special congratulations to the Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Marketing of Dominica on his assumption of the chair. Minister Riviere we look forward to the benefit of your wisdom and many years of experience in regional matters to guide this Council not only through this meeting but through the next six months.

Your ascendancy to the chair has come at a time when the Community is gearing up to celebrate its 30^th Anniversary – making CARICOM the longest surviving integration arrangement among developing countries - an achievement of which we can all be justly proud. In this important sense therefore, we have stayed the course and this, despite the many challenges which have come from inside and outside our region and which persist even today.

The celebration of the 30^th anniversary of this treasure, is expected to see its high point in Kingston in July. The life of our Community - the road from Chaguaramas to Kingston - has had its fair share of challenges. We have survived coups and attempted coups, armed rebellions, economic adjustment programmes, trade shocks and today we are battling the scourge of HIV/AIDS, illegal drugs and crime. Despite them all no one can deny that a proud feature of our 30 years has been the fact that we have sought to combat all of these challenges with a united front.

In so doing our Community has had to adapt and be creative in order to provide adequate responses in the never-ending quest to safeguard and advance the interests of our people. In that on-going process, there have been mistakes, disagreements too, and yes, failures as well. Crucially, however we have had enough successes for all to realize that our best chance for viability and prosperity lies in integration. As our theme for the 30^th anniversary celebrations says: Integration – our key to prosperity.

Mr Chairman, in that mission, this Council, the Community Council of Ministers has a most strategic responsibility. The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Article 13, paragraph 2 confers on it “ primary responsibility for the development of Community strategic planning and co-ordination in the areas of economic integration, functional co-operation and external relations,” this task to be undertaken “in accordance with the policy directions established by the Conference.” Being so tasked, it is the second highest organ of the Community, one of only two principal Organs, the other being the Conference of Heads of Government itself.

To discharge this responsibility, this Council is called upon:

“to approve the programmes of the Community on the basis, inter alia, of proposals emanating from other Community Organs;

…amend proposals developed by the Ministerial Councils or request them to develop proposals for the achievement of Community objectives.”

This is what you are here to do today.

Mr. Chairman, Honourable Ministers, we cannot fail today to recognise the global reality, particularly the state of international relations. The very threat of war which dominates the international climate at this time, is in some ways reminiscent of that thirty years ago when our Community was founded. Today, in the aftermath of the horror of the September 11, 2001, the world is on the brink of another war in the Middle East. Then it was Yom Kippur, following the September 1972 Munich Olympics attack on the Israeli athletes. One is tempted to recall the French adage (plus ca change; plus la meme chose) the more things change, the more they remain the same. But the world has not remained the same.

Today we join the rest of the world and particularly, the United States of America, India and Israel in mourning the loss of those intrepid astronaut-adventurers, who in their quest for the betterment of mankind, paid with their lives. We extend our deepest sympathy to their families and their nations. Their loss is a loss to all humanity.

Mr. Chairman, as we tackle the Agenda today, one cannot help but note that the Community is in the throes of a most onerous programme of meetings and activities, involving no less than 21 meetings in some 23 days. However, with goodwill and understanding, I am confident that the Community will yet again rise to the challenge, and under your country’s leadership, Mr. Chairman, successfully so.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me remind us all that we have a responsibility, each and everyone us, to preserve and enhance this treasure, our integration movement – our Caribbean Community. Those who follow these things tell me that the 30^th Anniversary is the Pearl Anniversary. The dictionary defines a pearl as a gem, a treasure, a precious thing. There is no doubt that our Caribbean Community is a gem and that our people are precious. Let us therefore move to ensure that we strengthen and improve the worth of this treasure, our integration movement, our Caribbean Community, in this thirtieth anniversary year and beyond.

I thank you