PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will meet with a number of other Heads of State and Government on the margins of the Fifth Summit of the Americas which opens in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Friday, April 17 2009.
The three-day Summit is being held under the theme `Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability’.
Heads of Government of the 14 independent Member States of CARICOM will meet in Caucus on Friday morning prior to the Summit’s opening.
Among the Heads of State and Government with whom the CARICOM leaders will hold talks are His Excellency Barack Obama, President of the United States, His Excellency Leonel Fernandez, President of the Dominican Republic, and the Hon Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada.
The meetings with Presidents Obama and Fernandez are to be held on Friday, April 17 while the talks with Prime Minister Harper will be conducted on Saturday, April 18.
While the global financial and economic crisis and regional security are expected to feature prominently in the discussions with the United States and Canada, the meeting with Prime Minister Harper will focus on the upcoming negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement and Climate Change. Implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and other issues will be on the agenda of the discussions between CARICOM and the Dominican Republic.
The CARICOM Heads of Government will also have a joint meeting with United States Congressmen Max Baucus, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, and Charles Rangel, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means and separate discussions with Congressman Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, Sub-Committee on the Western Hemisphere.
High on the Region’s priorities at the Summit are environmental policies related to its adaptation to climate change, and issues related to the Region’s economic development as it tackles the global financial crisis.
The Secretariats of CARICOM and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) have been collaboration to coherently articulate these concerns at the Summit. The countries of the wider Caribbean are in the majority in the Organisation of American States (OAS) and mainly due to their size are the most vulnerable to global shocks such as climate change and the financial crisis.
His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM has expressed confidence that the Summit would change the relationship between the Community and the rest of the hemisphere. In particular, the Secretary-General said the Summit would give participating countries an opportunity to strengthen their relationship with the United States.
“The Fifth Summit will provide an opportunity for the region to get to know President Barack Obama early on in the new administration and for the U.S. leader to develop a more complete and nuanced understanding of our priorities and concerns. For the Caribbean, as well as for the other sub-regions of the Americas, this presents an invaluable opportunity to be heard,” the Secretary-General said.
The Summit of the Americas brings together 34 Hemispheric Heads of State and Government to exchange ideas and opinions on the main political, economic, social and security challenges facing the hemisphere and to develop strategies and solutions to collectively address these challenges.
