It is truly a pleasure to welcome you all to this the First Meeting of the CARICOM-DR Task Force. It has been a long journey getting here, the mandate from the Conference of Heads of Government for the establishment of a Task Force having come more than one year ago. But, as many of you are aware, there were a number of challenges in getting this project off the ground. Nevertheless, I am very pleased that having overcome those constraints, almost the entire Task Force has found it possible to be here for this Meeting, signalling the importance that our Member States and regional institutions have accorded to this issue of exploring the possibilities for further enhancing relations between CARICOM and the Dominican Republic.

I am also pleased to see that as a result of the positive response of the Member States of the Community to the creation of this Task Force, we have indeed been successful in pulling together a very competent team of persons representing a balanced cross section of MDC and LDC Member States, the private sector, labour and regional institutions. Under the able and experienced Chairmanship of Ambassador Arthur Thompson who has had a very distinguished career in the field of foreign policy and foreign trade in the Jamaican Foreign Service, I have no doubt that this Task Force is quite capable of discharging the mandate of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in an efficient and timely manner.

A lot has happened in the almost twenty years since the Dominican Republic made its demarche to CARICOM, seeking membership to the Community. CARICOM itself has undergone some amount of widening and significant deepening, while the Dominican Republic has seen many developments nationally, and has expanded its own economic and trade relationships.

For their part, CARICOM’s relations with the Dominican Republic have advanced, as evidenced by the signing of the CARICOM-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement in 1998, the common membership of CARIFORUM, the merging of the CARICOM and CARIFORUM Secretariats with the Secretary-General of CARICOM being simultaneously the Secretary-General of CARIFORUM, participation in the work of the CARICOM Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Negotiations and resulting Agreement.

Though these augur well for enhanced relations, there are nevertheless, still a number of obstacles and challenges to the relationship – key among them being the failure by both sides to implement to any significant degree, the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement. This would be among the many issues that the Task Force will need to examine over the next few months with a view to making solid recommendations for the consideration of our Heads of Government in determining the way forward.

That the convening of this Task Force is timely, is borne out by the fact that only two weeks ago, the CARICOM Secretariat received a visit from a Consultant commissioned by the Government of the Dominican Republic who is charged with carrying out a similar mandate as this Task Force – that is, examining the current state of play in the CARICOM-DR relationship, and making recommendations to the Government of the Dominican Republic for the future enhancement of the relationship. It is heartening to know that the Dominican Republic is on the same wavelength with the Community, and this “like-mindedness” if you will, augurs well for the receptiveness of the Dominican Republic to our efforts and interaction with them as we engage in the work of our Task Force, and for the possibilities for positive results on both sides.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would not wish to pre-empt the Chairman whose role it is to lead this Task Force and to set the tone and framework for the work that lies ahead. I will therefore conclude my remarks, by once again welcoming you, and to thanking you not only for committing the time to attend this First Meeting of the Task Force, but even more so, for committing to the many other activities and responsibilities that will be required of you over the next few months as we seek to implement this important regional project.

I thank you.