Prime Minister Freundel Stuart will leave the island tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15, to attend the Twenty-Eighth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Guyana, from February 16 to 17.
Following the adoption of the Agenda, Heads of Government are expected to discuss a wide range of issues that are critical to the development of the region, including: Correspondent Banking; Tourism in the Region; the Status of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); CARIFESTA XIII, which Barbados will host in August this year; Information and Communication Technologies for Development; and Relations with the Dominican Republic.
While in Guyana, Mr. Stuart will sign, on behalf of the Government of Barbados, the Protocol Amending the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to incorporate the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) as an Organ of the Community, and the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) as an Institution of the Community.
Regional leaders will also seek to ratify decisions arising from the Thirty-Seventh Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, held in Guyana last year. They will hold closed-door sessions to discuss regional security; as well as border issues affecting Belize and Guatemala, as well as Guyana and Venezuela.
The Barbados delegation will also use the opportunity to participate in bilateral meetings in the margins of the Conference.
Other members of the Barbados delegation include Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Senator Darcy Boyce; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean; Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM, Robert Morris; Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Sonja Welch; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cecile Humphrey; and Chief Research Officer in the CSME Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office, Paula Byer.
During Prime Minister Stuart’s absence, Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, will act as Prime Minister.