(CARICOM Secretariat)) Dr. the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will lead his delegation to a special meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Energy which will be held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 1 March. Mr. Charles Kirnon, Deputy Premier of Montserrat is also to attend the special one-day meeting. The ministers responsible for energy will discuss and seek agreement on a CARICOM Energy Policy.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - Tobago hoteliers are reporting a new trend among international visitors—many are booking their next visit while still on holiday on the island. "There has been a pleasing trend among international markets (that we have noticed) this Christmas. People who are here are rebooking for 10, 12 to 14 months down the road. And it's not just one or two properties—it seems to be going on across the board.
OTAKI, New Zealand (AP) - Sandra Vidulich is so excited about the leather boots she ordered through Amazon that she rips open the box in front of the postman and tries them on. "I looove them," she declares, as the driveway at her tree-lined home in rural New Zealand briefly becomes a catwalk. "They're cool." For now, a boom in Internet shopping is helping keep alive moribund postal services across the developed world. But the core of their business - letters - is declining precipitously, and data from many countries indicate that parcels alone won't be enough to save them.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Bank of Jamaica governor Brian Wynter said the ongoing negotiations between the government and the International Fund has contributed to speeding up the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar against the United States dollar. At the same time, Wynter said the above average decline in the value of the currency during the October to December 2012 quarter reflected excess demand for foreign exchange.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - THE Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) has concluded that Jamaica cannot do without the proposed loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at this time. However, the think tank, established to promote evidence-based policy dialogue within Caribbean societies, says that, while the Government's debt reduction programme is necessary and effective, it is "insufficient" to ensure that the country gets on a path of fiscal sustainability.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) - A five-member team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has arrived in Antigua to conduct reviews of the island’s economic performance under the multi-million dollar Stand By Agreement (SBA) with the Washington-based financial institution. The team is headed by Geoffrey Bannister and has already held meetings with various public and private sector representatives to discuss economic developments in Antigua and Barbuda.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House may soon propose the biggest change in US food aid since the programmes were created during the Cold War – donating cash for hunger relief instead of shipping American-grown food thousands of miles to global trouble spots, say farm groups and charities. Reformers have argued for years that cash donations, the method used by most nations, are more efficient and speedier. But food donation has been the favoured US approach since the Food for Peace programme was enacted in 1954.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to US President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - Americans are travelling once again to the Caribbean and visitor spending is beginning to rise. This was part of Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Beverly Nicholson-Doty’s, State of the Industry Report presented recently. “All indications are that Americans are coming back to the Caribbean in their customary numbers. US arrivals went up 4.1 per cent in 2012 when compared to 2011, holding steady with the pre-recession levels of five years earlier. US numbers increased in all of the reporting countries,” she stated.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - Other countries within the region would do well to learn from Barbados in terms of this country’s care for its elderly population. That is according to Caribbean Programme Co-ordinator and acting PAHO/WHO Represen-tative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Ernest Pate. He was speaking at the Multi Stakeholders Consultation on Healthy Ageing at the Savannah Beach Hotel yesterday. Pate pointed to Barbados’ record number of centenarians, maintaining that Barbados is ahead of other Caribbean countries in terms of elderly care.