Mr. Chairman
His Excellency Governor General Sir Clifford Husbands
Colleague Prime Ministers
Cabinet Ministers
Members of Parliament
Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Edwin Carrington
Other Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Mr. Chairman, I wish to express my gratitude for the warm welcome that you have extended to me at this, my first meeting, of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.

Allow me also to convey my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the Government and people of Barbados for the very warm and hospitable reception accorded to my delegation and myself since our arrival here.

It is an honour for me to be involved in discussions with my distinguished colleague Heads of Government, and I hope that I can draw upon your collective wisdom and experience in order to assist my government in the pursuit of even closer integration of our Region.

The untimely passing of our late Prime Minister, the Honourable Roosevelt Douglas was a great loss, both for me personally and for Dominica as a nation. I wish to thank all of the leaders and the people of the Caribbean who rallied to Dominica's side in our moment of national bereavement. I am indebted for the encouragement, advice and assistance, unstintingly given by the leaders of CARICOM.

Mr. Chairman, I share the passionate commitment of all the Heads of Government of this Region in striving towards the goal of all our states being one economic entity.

I look forward, with anticipation, to the day when insularity will disappear from among our people and we will accept our historic commonality and the fundamental cultural experiences that make CARICOM a whole nation.

The spirit of integration, which has taken root in our respective countries, must be nurtured and strengthened by contact between ordinary people on the streets of our countries. To this end, we must all, without exception, work towards implementing fully the mechanisms that will allow for hassle-free travel from one CARICOM Member State to another. We must make demonstrable progress in liberalising the services sector, but we must set the agenda for achieving the Single Market and Economy within a realistic time frame, always cognisant of internal as well as external realities.

Mr. Chairman, despite limited resources, and although operating within numerous constraints, we in CARICOM have still managed to present a united front where it counts. CARICOM has been able to make its voice heard in international fora like never before.

Never before have we been so challenged with so many external negotiations on so many different fronts, and with such complexity of issues. Never before has the Region been so resolved in meeting these challenges head on with one voice, whether it be in dealing with bananas, sugar, rice, international business services, telecommunications, or the vulnerability of small states.

Still, being very dependent on bananas, we have seen the anxiety that the banana dispute has produced in our people. We have witnessed more and more farmers opting to get out of banana production, as they view it as unrewarding and unstable.

Together, CARICOM Member States have fought tirelessly for a fair and equitable solution to this issue and we will continue to register our rejection of the so-called "first come first served" approach as unfair and unrealistic.

Yet even in our attempts to break free from our reliance on bananas, we are confronted with increasing stumbling blocks on the road to economic diversification. Despite efforts to comply with the regulatory requirements stipulated by the Financial Action Task Force, we continue to find ourselves blacklisted.

Dominica joins the other members of this Community in condemning the unilateral stance of the OECD which appears to be designed to impede the competitive capacity of the Caribbean jurisdictions in the provision of offshore financial services.

We stand firm in our belief that international rules and practices must evolve out of consultation of all stakeholders. We trust that future engagements with the OECD States will be conducted in an atmosphere of respect and that our points of view will be taken into consideration in crafting a mutually acceptable and workable solution.

Mr. Chairman, the dynamics of the world in which we live demand that we create an environment where communication and information sharing can flourish. Telecommunications today is a major component of our economic development strategy.  However, for such a strategy to be effective, we need to move away from an environment of monopoly, restrictive laws and licenses, exclusivity and limited availability of services to a position of liberalisation.

For this reason, we in the OECS sub-region have created the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority to regulate the telecommunications sector so as to ensure fair competition, consumer protection and investor confidence.  We wish to make it clear that the aim is not to drive any one player from the market, but to encourage a vibrant and competitive atmosphere where all players are welcome.

Mr. Chairman, we welcome the initiative by Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony of Saint Lucia for the convening of a Second Summit on Tourism later this year. There is urgent need for dialogue at the highest level on those issues that are so critical to this sector, such as declining market share; the need for environmental stewardship and integrity; measures to halt rising crime and violence; and the importance of attracting new investments into the sector.

I believe that the time is right for such a Summit and we certainly look forward to making our contribution to the dialogue.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to reiterate to my distinguished colleagues, that regional solidarity must be the foundation upon which we proceed to face the challenges of the external world.

To a large extent we are in uncharted waters, but I believe that with the mobilisation and economic unification of our people, we can resolve most if not all of our problems. CARICOM will be judged against that background.

I thank you for giving me this opportunity to say these few words and I look forward to continued harmonious relations within our Community.

I look forward to the coming discussions and hope that at the end of this meeting we will have achieved our desired objectives.

I thank you.