— at 40th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government

GUYANA is set to update members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the ongoing border controversy with Venezuela, at the 40th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in Saint Lucia.

At the meeting, which will open today at the Sandals Grande Hotel, Guyana will also provide an update on Venezuelan migrants entering these shores, due to hardship back home.

“As it relates to Guyana, it will be the CSME, Guyana and Venezuela border controversy and the migrant issue,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Karen Cummings in an invited comment on Tuesday.

As Guyana gears up to raise its concerns, there is a packed agenda for the meeting.
Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, and Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, are slated to address the CARICOM Heads of State.

Secretary-General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque said some of the issues to be discussed with Solberg and Guterres include climate change and the sustainable ocean economy.
Solberg, who heads a panel on the blue economy, will be able to give guidance to the regional heads, especially in relation to pollution of the oceans and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addition, Guterres, who will be hosting a series of meetings in September, will give local heads an opportunity to hear about the plans for the meetings and get their views out in relation to financing for development on issues of resilience building and access to financing for the SDGs.

“Prime Minister Allen Chastanet will put forward resilience, in terms of how do we get financing… it is easy to get financing after a hurricane but you need to build resilience before the disaster, but access to such financing is costly so we need to know how do we get concessional financing to build resilience,” said LaRocque during a press briefing at the Studio of the Government Information Services in St. Lucia, on Tuesday.

CSME
With regional development a top priority, the agenda for the meeting will feature prominently the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).

LaRocque said the community has set some timelines and established a work plan to get an update on which country has done what and so forth.

CAIRCOM will also be engaging the regional private sector, labour and civil society, which will represent the people, who use the CSME. This, he said, will help the community to hear how best they can make the CSME more user-friendly.

The issue of blacklisting of countries will also be high on the agenda since it seems like a problem which is not going away.

“Many countries have been blacklisted and they have done what they were asked to do but yet they get themselves back on that list… the goalpost keeps shifting but we have a strategy on how to go forward; it has been put in place,” said LaRocque.

Meanwhile, crime and security will also feature prominently on the agenda, although there is already strong cooperation.

The secretary-general said the community is seeking to strengthen cooperation and collaboration among the security apparatus in the region.

“We have been putting some of the regional, legal framework in place but we are trying to see how we can step up greater collaboration,” said LaRocque.

Other items on the agenda include science and technology, which will be introduced preliminarily and there will be discussions which relate to relations with the African diaspora.

The secretary-general said a full house of member states is expected, with 11 heads of state and four heads from the associate members, along with other ministerial representations.

The meeting, at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian Hotel, will be held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Chastanet.

An opening ceremony will be held today and will be addressed by Prime Minister Chastanet; the outgoing Chairman, Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris of St. Kitts and Nevis; UN Secretary-General, Guterres; and Ambassador LaRocque.