I want to begin by congratulating the CARICOM Secretariat on the mounting of this Workshop. It is no secret that I place great store by the role of Caribbean diplomacy over nearly fifty years of engagement with the international community. Some of our most notable achievements have been in this field – at the United Nations, in the Non-aligned Movement, in the Commonwealth, in Brussels and in Geneva, in the ACP and at the OAS – and always on the right side of history! You are heirs to a great tradition. It will be your challenge to enhance it.

Allow me to join with the Secretary General of CARICOM in thanking the Government of the Republic of Suriname for its graciousness in being excellent host to this the Eighth Meeting of the CARICOM Council for National Security and Law Enforcement. I am certain that I speak for all present.

We have all been the beneficiaries of the exceptional service and organization that has been displayed in the coordination for this Meeting thus far, as well as the ones which preceded it.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Technical level talks on security cooperation involving the United States and the Caribbean Community ended Wednesday, in Suriname, on what was described as a very positive note. Both heads of delegation concurred that the dialogue was productive, rich in information sharing and explicit in its objectives for future co-operation.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) CARICOM Secretary-General, His Excellency Edwin W Carrington has urged security and law enforcement ministers, who are meeting in Suriname, to re-double their efforts in fulfilling their mandate, chief of which he said, was promoting the development of a common regional security strategy to complement the national security strategies of Members States.

I want to begin by congratulating the CARICOM Secretariat on the mounting of this Workshop. It is no secret that I place great store by the role of Caribbean diplomacy over nearly fifty years of engagement with the international community. Some of our most notable achievements have been in this field – at the United Nations, in the Non-aligned Movement, in the Commonwealth, in Brussels and in Geneva, in the ACP and at the OAS – and always on the right side of history! You are heirs to a great tradition. It will be your challenge to enhance it.

Trade Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), at the 27th Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development, May 14-15, 2009, expressed concern at the latest proposals by the European Union (EU) for new tariff measures to deal with the longstanding banana dispute.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) With the acknowledgement of the need for sustained food security, combined with mixed results from attempts at export diversification to boost agricultural development, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has embarked on a programme to enhance the framework for the development of Agribusiness in the Region.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Suriname has joined other CARICOM Member States in the use technology to track the origin of illegal guns with the assistance of the United States.

Trade Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), at the 27th Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development, May 14-15, 2009, expressed concern at the latest proposals by the European Union (EU) for new tariff measures to deal with the longstanding banana dispute.