– multilateral conference set for December

THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is looking to strengthen its bilateral relations with its partners in the north – Florida.

Talks of strengthening relations came up during the 40th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, in St Lucia.
During the meeting, representatives of CARICOM states met with US Congress woman,

Stacey Plaskett, who is the Chairperson of the Caribbean Caucus and responsible for the US Virgin Islands.

“The continuing effort both on financial services and trade came up with the US… and as part of that for us to continue the efforts, we established a Florida-Caribbean Conference, which is due to take place early December in Florida,” said Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Allen Chastanet during a press conference at the Sandals Grande, on Friday.

The idea of a conference was endorsed by members of the congress from both the Democratic and Republican Parties and the Mayor of Miami.

“The expectation is that at a very high level we can start integrating with the Florida politicians and they can assist with our lobbying efforts in Washington DC,” said Chastanet.
To answer the question “why Florida?” he said it is a state where the Caribbean has the greatest amount of economic impact and in fact almost 80 per cent of every dollar that a tourist spends in the Caribbean goes back to America through the airlines and cruise ships.
In addition to economic similarities, Florida experiences the same natural disasters, which are affecting the Caribbean.

According to Chastanet, Florida also experiences the same issues and source of crime with regards to drug trafficking.

“There are a lot of synergies to be had by both groups,” said the Prime Minister, adding that the upcoming conference will help to stimulate relations and growth between both groups.
The Caribbean’s diaspora is significant in Florida so CARICOM’s intention would be to ensure that the diaspora is a significant part of the conference.