-priorities for next five years discussed
President Bharrat Jagdeo joined 10 of 14 colleagues Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government at yesterday’s meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations which discussed matters pertaining to the Community’s Secretariat’s Strategic Plan for 2009-2015 with a view to determining its priorities over the next five years. The hours-long meeting was held moments before the Grand Gala opening of the thirty-first meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa, A Hilton Resort I Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The Summit’s agenda was set by the Twenty-Sixth Meeting of the Community Council on July 3. Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Guyana’s Ambassador to CARICOM, Elisabeth Harper, represented Guyana at Saturday’s meeting.
The Council considered other matters within four sectoral clusters: Legal Affairs, Human and Social Development, Foreign and Community Relations, and Trade and Economic Development.
The Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Trade Negotiations discussed the status of the negotiations of the CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement, which is about to enter its third round.  Exploratory talks between senior trade officials of CARICOM and Canada began formally in November 2009, with CARICOM putting forward its interest in a strong development component, as a distinct chapter of the agreement. The Second Round of Negotiations was held late March, 2010, in Barbados.
Yesterday’s Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee meeting also considered matters related to the implementation of the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM)-European Community (EC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in October 2008, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Round. The Committee Members also exchanged views on the implications of CARICOM’s continued participation in Free Trade Negotiations in the context of the economic crisis.
The region is also expected to reaffirm its commitment to the development of Haiti and to the restoration of all international diplomatic ties with Cuba.
At the Thirtieth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, President Bharrat Jagdeo, as CARICOM Chairman, said, “phenomenal improvements have occurred in the health care of the peoples of the Caribbean since our independence.  We acknowledge that Cuba, with no comparable equal, deserves credit for helping to catapult forward our health systems through a constant inflow of competent Cuban health professionals, and additionally, through the provision of generous scholarship programs for CARICOM nationals to the now renowned educational institutions of your country.  I offer the sincere gratitude of the Caribbean people”.
President Bharrat Jagdeo continued, “These relations have not been cosmetic, unilateral, or merely for the satisfaction of conventions.  In global fora, our history and our realities have often made for the pursuit of identical goals.  Whether it was the liberation of oppressed peoples, South/South cooperation, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and China, the United Nations, and even in those organisations in which Cuba continues to be unfairly denied its place, the concurrence of our views and actions have been mutually reinforcing”.
“The support of the Caribbean Community for Cuba has not faltered over these years.  In 1994 we insisted that there could not be an Association of Caribbean States that omits Cuba.”
Similarly, at the Third Summit of the Americas the Caribbean Community again called for Cuba to be fully engaged as a member of the hemispheric community.  Further, they remain committed in support of Cuba’s desire to accede to the Cotonou Agreement.    Earlier in the year, discussion between CARICOM and Brazil explored the areas of trade, integration and climate change, among other issues, with a number of agreements being signed inclusive of  a Technical Cooperation Agreement between Brazil and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the 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.
CARICOM starts at the Guyana/Brazil border and, as such, the government of Guyana has been gearing itself to assert its role when it comes to pushing the interest of the region.
The delegation, led by President Jagdeo, includes Minister Rodrigues-Birkett and Ambassador Harper, as well as Presidential advisor, Odinga Lumumba.
Earlier in the day, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J Patterson introduced the newly formed Ramphal Commission on Migration and Development, established earlier in the year. The commission will advise Commonwealth governments and agencies on how they may adopt mutually beneficial and practical policies to maximize the benefits of international migration.
The Commission’s special concern is with migration and development, while taking into account the other impacts that migration can have. Commissioners aim to transform the way migration is viewed and treated within the Commonwealth and, ultimately, to improve the lives of people across the Commonwealth countries and beyond. Mr. Patterson’s role in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is to brief regional heads of the implications and benefits of migration in the region and how the grouping can use this phenomenon to its advantage.
The leaders of Grenada, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Dominica, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and host prime minister Bruce Golding will attend the July 4-7 summit which is the supreme Organ of the Community and determines and provides policy direction for the Community.
Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson, announced on Thursday that he was proceeding on two months extended medical leave, while Suriname, which recently came out of general elections, is yet to choose a president and therefore, will not be represented by a government leader.