Inaugural CARICOM/Brazil Summit…
– CARICOM to speak with one voice
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo will head Guyana’s delegation to the inaugural CARICOM/Brazil summit to be convened tomorrow in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia.
He will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Carolyn  Rodrigues-Birkett, Agriculture Minister, Mr. Robert Persaud, and Director-General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to CARICOM, Ms. Elisabeth Harper.
Responding to a query from the Chronicle via telephone as to Guyana’s thrust at the one-day forum, Minister Rodrigues said Guyana will be participating as a part of CARICOM, hence the approach would be a unified one.
Discussion between the two sides (CARICOM and Brazil) will be in the areas of trade, integration and climate change among other issues, with a number of agreements already being earmarked to be signed. These agreements include  a Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federative Republic of Brazil and CARICOM on Technical Cooperation; and a protocol between the Ministry of External Relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Community of Caribbean States on Political Consultations.
The Technical Cooperation Agreement will focus on technical cooperation in areas that are considered a priority by the parties, such as: The fight against hunger and poverty; Agriculture; Health; Education; Natural Resources; The Environment; Energy and Fisheries; and Aquaculture.
In respect of the MOU on Technical Cooperation, this will encompass areas of public/financial administration, namely: Career structuring; initial and continued education and customs administration;        Agriculture (vegetable genetic resources, aquaculture); Ports and airports (structure and management) and Health.
A Declaration will also be issued following the Summit, Minister Rodrigues said.
Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, commenting on the holding of the summit at a post-Cabinet briefing recently, said that Brazil has much to offer not only to Guyana but the entire Caribbean, since it is regarded as the powerhouse of South America.
Noting that Guyana will forever remain the link between the Caribbean and Brazil, Dr. Luncheon said CARICOM starts at the Guyana/Brazil border and, as such, this country will assert its role when it comes to pushing the interest of the region.
He noted, too, that  Guyana is party to several trade agreements with its South American neighbour and that could be used as a stepping stone to create a critical link between Brazil and the rest of the Caribbean.“We would be expected, as the immediate beneficiary of CARICOM-Brazil engagements, to take formidable aggressive position in pushing integration of Guyana and CARICOM economy with the Brazilians,” he said.
He also expressed optimism about the tremendous positives that will come out of the summit for both the Caribbean and Brazil, saying: “Our expectations are the kind of support that has been provided to us in Guyana in the engagement in the bridge, in the agriculture sector. Plus, businessmen were here less than a month ago scouring Guyana and looking at opportunities for trade and investment. I think we have reasonable cause to be looking for good outcomes from the Brazil/CARICOM Summit.”
Meanwhile, a CARICOM Secretariat release says  Secretary-General Edwin Carrington will head a  high-level delegation from the Secretariat to what they described as the a historic and first CARICOM-Brazil Summit.
The Secretary-General’s delegation, which comprises Ambassador Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, Foreign and Community Relations; Ms. Glenda Itiaba, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Secretary-General; Ms. Janet Crick, Deputy Programme Manager, Foreign and Community Relations; Ambassador, Lorne Mc Donnough,   Chief Executive Officer, CARICOM Development Fund (CDF); and Mr. Carlton James, Advocacy and Communications Adviser, is due to arrive in Brasilia today. They are expected to provide support to some 14 CARICOM Heads of Government and Delegations, due to arrive there today as well.
In addition to President Jagdeo, the other Heads or Head of Delegation who will participate in the forum are Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas, Brent Symonette; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, Maxine McClean; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belize, Wilfred P. Elrington; Prime Minister of Dominica and current CARICOM Chairman, Roosevelt Skerrit; Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas; President of Haiti, René Préval; Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding; Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas; Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Stephenson King; Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph E. Gonsalves and President of Suriname, Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan. The Trinidad and Tobago delegation is headed by Ambassador to Brazil, Monica Clement.
According to the release, the Summit is expected to identify avenues for the development of cooperation between CARICOM and Brazil in many sectors; political, commercial, economic, cultural, consular, and educational.
It added that the Heads of Government, based on preliminary consultations, have shown a commitment to enhance cooperation and collaboration and a quest for mechanisms to monitor that cooperation and strengthen their historical and cultural bonds.
Several bilateral meetings between CARICOM and Brazil preceded tomorrow’s Summit, including the Intersessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in Paramaribo in 2005, at which President Luis Ignacio  da Silva of Brazil addressed the Opening Session.
Also, the Foreign Minister of Brazil met with his CARICOM counterparts at meetings of the COFCOR (Council for Foreign and Community Relations) on two occasions.
Secretary-General Carrington, who returns from Brazil mid-week, will on Friday, April 30, accept the credentials of Ambassador Philip Kentwell, as Plenipotentiary Representative (Designate) of Australia to CARICOM.