THE African Caribbean Pacific (ACP)/European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly, an important gathering will convene today at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) and yesterday Secretary General of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Dr. Edwin Carrington, Chief de Cabinet Glenda Itiaba, and Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Barbara Graham, met President Bharrat Jagdeo to discuss the conference’s agenda and other issues.

President Bharrat Jagdeo meets CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Edwin Carrington. The Secretary General was accompanied by Chief de Cabinet Glenda Itiaba

“We hope that it’s a little more balanced and reflects the concerns that we have had over the years in various aspects of our cooperation,” the Secretary General explained.

Over 60 participants from the Caribbean, including co-presidents from the ACP/ EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly will be meeting to address security, narco-trafficking, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and climate change, among other pertinent issues.

The focus of the discussions was agreed after the meeting of the EU/ACP Joint Parliament Association (JAP) Bureau in Brussels.

Participating countries are Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Puerto Rico.

President Bharrat Jagdeo will be delivering the feature address at the session which will end on February 26 with the adoption of the Guyana communiqué. The ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was first held in Georgetown, Guyana in 1975. (GINA)