Prime Minister Freundel Stuart will lead a delegation to two summits in Mexico next week.

Mr. Stuart will attend the Third CARICOM-Mexico Summit on Tuesday, April 29, and the Sixth Summit of Heads of State and/or Government of the Association of Caribbean States the following day.

The delegation will include Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean and her Permanent Secretary Charles Burnett, as well as Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister???s Office, Sonja Welch.

Prime Minister Stuart has been invited to speak on the topic: Options for Public Investment in the Area of Disaster Risk Reduction during the Third CARICOM-Mexico Summit.

During the day, the delegates will examine issues relating to Economic Development, Sustainable Development and Agricultural Development, Health and the CARICOM-Mexico Cooperation Programme. A draft Declaration is expected to be issued at the end of the conference.

At the meeting the following day, the Heads will, among other things, evaluate the P??tion Ville Action Plan and discuss opportunities for regional cooperation.

Underscoring the importance of the two meetings for this island, Prime Minister Stuart said: ???Mexico has been selected as one of the countries with which Barbados should seek to explore and promote economic cooperation. It has been listed among the Next-11 countries as an emerging market, which, along with countries of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) group, has the potential to be ranked among the world???s largest economies in the next three decades.???

He added that with respect to the Sixth Summit of Heads of the Association of Caribbean States, it would allow him to ???set out Barbados??? strategic interest in the Association and its significance for regional economic development, while promoting the importance of achieving a truly integrated management approach to the Caribbean Sea???.

Mr. Stuart is also expected to speak on Barbados??? experience in the development of sustainable tourism in the context of natural disasters.

The Second CARICOM-Mexico Summit was held in Barbados in 2012, while the Fifth Summit of Heads of State and/or Government of the Association of Caribbean States was held in Haiti in 2013.??

Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, will act as Prime Minister in Mr. Stuart???s absence.

sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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