Co-Chairmen
Honourable Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Assistant Secretaries-General and Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Representatives of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is with the greatest pleasure that as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, I join the honourable Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of Guyana, in welcoming you all to this historic Second Joint Meeting of the Councils for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and Human and Social Development (COHSOD).

I extend a warm welcome also to the new Ministers joining us at this Meeting – Dr. The Honourable Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, Minister Christine Kangaloo of Trinidad and Tobago, and Minister Bertrand Joseph of Antigua and Barbuda.  Ministers John Osbourne of Montserrat and Karl Samuda of Jamaica are old warriors who have been there and done that and are back to lend their experience.

A particularly warm welcome to you all. This is your forum and even though deliberations may be tedious, they are all to our benefit.

I also take this opportunity, since this is the first Ministerial Meeting for 2008, to wish you all a happy and productive New Year - a defining year for the Region in more ways than one. This meeting is highly symbolic to me. It is the first meeting for the year that brings two Councils together – this signals a thrust towards greater inter-sectoral collaboration which is so crucial to implementation of the plans for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

I am particularly heartened by reports of the intensity of the discussions among the officials from our CARICOM Member States and other organisations and agencies over the past two days that have resulted in the recommendations tabled for the consideration of Ministers at this Forum. I am sure I speak on behalf of the Ministers when I say thanks to you, the Officials, for your diligence in completing such a gruelling schedule.

Honourable Ministers, believe me when I say how sincerely grateful I am to you for making the effort to be here to assist in charting a path in the inter-sectoral exchange that brings together and into focus the contending, and at the same time, complementary perspectives of the social and economic dimensions of the Region’s development. This dynamic fusion augurs well for the future of our Community.

I recall quite vividly that the first Joint meeting of these Councils – COTED and COHSOD - was held in Grand Anse, Grenada on 8 September 2001 at the same Conference Centre where, in 1989, the Conference of Heads of Government took the landmark decision to deepen the integration movement to a Single Market and Economy. That first Joint meeting – in 2001 - focused on, apart from the vision, the Removal of Restrictions on the Right of Establishment, Provision of Services and the Movement of Capital. It was indeed a landmark meeting. In fact, it was preceded by a day, by the first Joint meeting of the COTED and the Council of Finance and Planning (COFAP).

The Community has made major strides since then in achieving the underlying objectives of those first Joint meetings. Those strides have been made in a global environment that has changed dramatically. Indeed it was that change that CARICOM Heads of Government had visualised in 1989.

Three days after the deliberations of the Joint Councils in Grenada, the 9-11 terrorist attacks took place in the USA with the resulting impact not only on the security configuration of the Region but also on our economies, particularly our key tourism industry. The 9-11 incident no doubt, together with the whittling away of the preferential arrangements with Europe for our bananas, sugar and other agricultural products, have served to fortify the Community’s resolve to push ahead with the deepening of the integration processes.

In the intervening period therefore, we have seen the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice, in 2005; the launching of the CARICOM Single Market in 2006; the revision of the Treaty of Basseterre in 2007, in order for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to forge an Economic Union; and most recently, just last Friday, January 18, 2008, the Inauguration of the CARICOM Competition Commission in Suriname - all landmark achievements for our Community and its Member States.

When you add to this, the signing last 16 December of the new Economic Partnership Agreement with Europe which changes fundamentally and forever our relations with that Continent, one gets the full picture of the dynamism of the times and of the integration process.

Co-Chairmen, Ministers, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, most of the issues that were in their embryonic stages in 2001 have now come to fruition, including the CARICOM Passport and the establishment of common lines for Citizens, Residents and CARICOM Nationals at regional airports. These are not merely symbolic but they also help to consolidate the sprit of Community as that spirit now infuses all our considerations.

What is fascinating about the unfolding of the issues being tackled by this Joint Meeting, is the growing recognition of the importance of social and cultural agendas in the formulation of trade policy. I am very pleased that your discussions, among other things, will focus on Trade in Educational services, Cultural industries, the exploration of the Trade related intellectual property rights and paying greater attention to the cultural variant in our trade negotiations.

In fact, these discussions, together with those on domestic regulations for the provisions of services in the CSME and the accelerated implementation of the CSME itself, provide an adequate, appropriate and relevant context for the discussions that are scheduled to follow at tomorrow’s Twenty-Fifth meeting of the COTED.

As we move forward in this venture to consolidate the gains and to create a viable CSME and a Community for all, I am sure that you will wish me, on your behalf, to acknowledge the tremendous role played by the former Prime Minister of Barbados, the Rt. Honourable Owen Arthur, in his capacity as Lead Head of Government for the CSME, for his vibrant leadership. That leadership helped in no small measure to shape this robust agenda that forms the basis of our deliberations today and at the Meeting of the COTED tomorrow.

With these few words, it is my sincere hope that this meeting would set the tone for the rest of the year in the quality of its discussions and equally so, in the significance of its decisions.

I thank you.

CONTACT; piu@caricom.org