Your Excellency, Mr. David Robinson, Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Assistant Secretary-General, Other Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen
It is with distinct pleasure that I welcome you most warmly, Ambassador, to the Headquarters of the Caribbean Community. Here you will find among our staff what can almost be termed a microcosm of the fifteen-member CARICOM regional organisation.
Prime Minister of St Lucia Dr The Hon Kenny Anthony
Hon Rafael Dezcallar, Under-Secretary for Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain
The Most Honourable Percival J. Patterson, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica
H.E. Jesus Silva and other members of the Diplomatic corps
The Honourable Derek Walcott, Noble Laureate
Honourable Rex Nettleford
Specially invited guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
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Honourable Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of Guyana, Manniram Prashad; Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite; our Chairman for this Roundtable; Madame President of the Caribbean Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Senator Sandra Husbands of Barbados; Other Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to this our Second Roundtable on Small and Medium Enterprises being held here at our Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Headquarters. |
Honourable Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of Guyana, Manniram Prashad; Chairman, Mr. Kyle Jackman; President of the Caribbean Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Senator Sandra Husbands; Assistant Secretary-General and other Members of Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat; Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Secretary-General, Dr Edwin Carrington, and my colleagues from the CARICOM Secretariat, I welcome you to the CARICOM Secretariat headquarters and to this the Second Roundtable on Small and Medium Enterprises.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) If Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) are to be fully developed, countries must put in place the Legal and Policy Framework to ensure that the full potential of the sector is realised.
The Fifteenth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development of the Caribbean Community (COHSOD XV) was convened at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown, Guyana on 19-21 October 2006 under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Anthony Wood, Minister of Education, Barbados.
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I welcome you all most sincerely to this Fifteenth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development.
This Meeting is taking place at a critical juncture in the life of the Community. The CARICOM Single Market was established in January this year. |
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) With the Single Market component of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) now in operation, work is intensifying to effectively position Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to reap the benefits from the Single Market.
To this end, representatives of SMEs will gather in Guyana on 24-25 October 2006 for the Second Region-wide Roundtable aimed at developing strategic action plans and coordinating mechanisms for SMEs.