Your Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana
Colleague Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community
Your Excellency Ricardo Lagos, President of Chile
Your Excellency Madam Jagan
Your Excellency Samuel Hinds, Prime Minister of Guyana, Your Excellency, Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Your Excellencies and Honorable Ministers of Government, Distinguished Members of Parliament, Distinguished Representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, Distinguished Representatives of international and regional organizations and institutions, And a special word of welcome to the staff and support personnel of the Caribbean Community Secretariat, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before sharing my thoughts with you on this pleasant occasion of the official inauguration of the new headquarters building of the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community,

I want to extend my deepest sympathy to those who have lost relatives and those who have lost personal belongings and property as a consequence of the flooding which occurred on the east coast of Guyana last month. Many of the persons living in the affected areas continue to experience the effects on a daily basis. As I stated in my presentation at the Opening Ceremony of the 16th Inter-Sessional Meeting of The Conference of Heads of Government in Paramaribo earlier this week, it remains of great importance to continue to monitor the situation and provide assistance to Guyana to overcome the challenges posed by this natural disaster and to move with success through the recovery process.

Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, we celebrate another historic and joyful moment in the life of the Caribbean Community.

Contrary to earlier achievements, we celebrate today something material and tangible, to be recognised in future as the "powerhouse" of the Caribbean Community.

The celebration of the inauguration of this new headquarters building of the CARICOM Secretariat is indeed for many a long awaited moment. A moment that should be celebrated because of what it will mean in the daily life of the CARICOM staff and for many of us in the Community, but also because this building symbolises the unity and aspirations of the peoples of CARICOM.

I take this opportunity to offer my heartiest congratulations to the President and Government of Guyana for the firm and targeted efforts which they have undertaken in the past years, in consultation with the CARICOM Secretariat, to materialise this dream from the past into the present.

I also want to thank, on behalf of the Caribbean Community, the Government of Japan for their generous financial contribution and technical assistance. Your contribution to the realisation of our dream will no doubt be remembered throughout the further history of our Community.

The housing conditions of the CARICOM Secretariat were not conducive to creating a healthy and pleasant working environment. Nonetheless, Secretary- General, Deputy Secretary-General and Assistant Secretaries-General and their respective staff and support personnel, you have continued to work and produce. I seize this opportunity to publicly put on record my deepest appreciation for your contribution and efforts in strengthening the integration of CARICOM.

The availability of this new headquarters building is especially opportune in light of the further deepening and widening of the integration process, culminating for now in the launch of the Single Market and soon of the Caribbean Court of Justice, as well as in light of the many other initiatives and activities of the several Councils of CARICOM, such as the Community Council, the Council for Trade and Development, the Council for Human and Social Development.

Together with the establishment of the CSM and the CCJ, the official opening of this new building symbolizes the beginning of a new era in the Caribbean integration process. An era in which we have to work not only as a solid collection of individual member states, but rather as a Region with one vision, one future and one destiny.

I call on all of you, especially the CARICOM staff and support personnel to treasure this building. To consider it your "home away from home". Indeed, we hope that this new facility will inspire you even more to produce even more and even better.

I thank you!