Regional food security, removing trade barriers
President Dr Irfaan Ali arrived Monday afternoon in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize for the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). President Ali is accompanied by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, and other officials (Office of the President photo)
President Dr Irfaan Ali arrived Monday afternoon in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize for the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). President Ali is accompanied by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, and other officials (Office of the President photo)

— high on agenda of CARICOM Heads of Government meeting
— CARICOM must reinforce its commitment to peace in Russia/Ukraine crisis, says President Ali

PRESIDENT Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has highlighted several key areas for discussion at the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which is billed for today and tomorrow in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.

The Head of State arrived in the Central American nation Monday afternoon and highlighted several pressing areas of concern, including regional food security and production systems, which he hopes to address.

He will present a paper on these areas and is expected to provide an outline of the objectives by both Guyana and the Region as a whole, along with comprehensive strategies in achieving the target of reducing the Region’s food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

“I look forward to a focused discussion on the implementation of the CSME, led by Prime Minister [Mia] Mottley and as part of the agri-food system and CSME, discussions on an actionable timetable of the action and commitment required for the removal of trade barriers that are strangling inter-regional trade, especially on food supply.”

President Dr Irfaan Ali and President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi in Belize (Office of the President photo)

Guyana currently holds lead responsibility for agriculture, agricultural diversification, and food security in CARICOM and is spearheading the regional body’s quest of reducing its US$5B food-importation bill.

President Ali said too that he also looks forward to “a full discussion on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.”
“We must reinforce that this is a Region of peace where we respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations.”

Discussions on regional transportation, logistics and security are also important issues that President Ali expects to be further advanced at the two-day CARICOM meeting.
“It is also my hope that as a community we will be able to set targets in some key areas, and those targets must be time-bound, implementable of which the Region must be accountable to achieving.”

This week’s meeting will take place under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Belize, John Antonio Briceño.

President Dr Irfaan Ali arrives in Belize accompanied by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd (Office of the President photo)

According to information from the CARICOM Secretariat, today’s opening ceremony begins at 10:00hrs (Belize Time) and will feature remarks by CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett; outgoing CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne; and new CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Briceño.

(Office of the President)

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