High Commissioner Faith Radebe Plenipotentiary Representative (Designate) of the Republic of South Africa to the Caribbean Community
Deputy Secretary-General
Other Members of the Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Participants of the Regional Diplomatic Training Programme
Representatives of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my sincere and profound pleasure to welcome you to this historic occasion - the first accreditation of a Plenipotentiary Representative of an African nation to the Caribbean Community.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) is preparing its regional report on findings of a research done on the situation of Caribbean youth which will be a major input into its report to the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.

As a result, the Commission is engaged in a flurry of activities designed primarily to highlight, to the Region, some of the key issues emanating from the research.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Her Excellency Faith Radebe, the first Plenipotentiary Representative of South Africa to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was accredited on Thursday May 28, 2009, at the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have been urged to act now to build alliances to promote agri-business development in the Region.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Health and Education will be involved in two meetings in Montego Bay, Jamaica next week.

First they will convene the Eighteenth Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) and then will meet with their Latin American counterparts to in preparation for a meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Wednesday May 27, 2009 signalled support to Japan from Member States of the Community for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the term 2009-2010.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have agreed that the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) should be a vehicle for all development resources of the Region and in this regard should be restructured to become more responsive to the needs of the Region. Meeting in Special Caucus at the Diplomatic Centre, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the CARICOM Leaders said that this responsiveness should be exercised in a responsible and sustainable manner.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Four main objectives were identified at the end of a meeting of CARICOM Finance Ministers and Financial Services Sector Regulators as they sought to resolve difficulties arising in the Region’s insurance and banking sectors.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) meet in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday 24 May at a Special Caucus to discuss the current economic circumstances of Member States arising from the on-going global economic and financial crisis.