Preparations for the Twenty Third Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community and for the Civil Society Conference "Forward Together" dominated the discussions at the Tenth Meeting of CARICOM's Community Council of Ministers.
The Fourth Meeting of the Project Management Group responsible for "Strengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS/STI in the Caribbean (SIRHASC)" will be held at the Sunset Shores Hotel in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 6-7 June 2002.
 Salutations.
It is again a great pleasure to be in Guyana, and particularly so during the celebration of the 36th anniversary of Independence. On behalf of all of us I congratulate the Government and People of Guyana on this important national milestone, and further express sincere appreciation for the warm hospitality that has been extended to us.
Colleague Ministers, we meet at a critical juncture in Regional and global affairs. Developments are taking place in the trade and economic arena that demand our most urgent and careful attention.
Mr. Chairman, Hon. K.D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica
Outgoing Chairman, Hon. Clement Rohee, Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of Guyana
Hon Billie Miller Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados
Other Honourable Ministers
Ambassador Richard Bernal, Director-General of the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM)
Distinguished Delegates
Members of Staff of the Secretariat
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
A sub-group of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers responsible for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), have agreed to meet in Jamaica in June to review the status of operations of the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), which temporarily suspended services in January 2002.
The group's decision to meet in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, was one of the major conclusions of the just completed ICT Meeting held in Antigua and Barbuda from 13 - 15 May 2002.
As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) intensify efforts towards the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), several of the professionals in the Regional State Sector who will interface directly with the Court will be focusing their minds on the issues relating to the Court during the first half of June.
Decisions leading to the continued implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) are expected to be made when Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Officials and Ministers of Government responsible for Economic Development meet in Guyana 22-28 May, 2002. The Officials will meet on 22-25 May 2002, while the Ministers will meet on 27-28 May 2002.
CARICOM Heads of Government have concluded a new round of talks in two Summits held 16 and 17 May 2002 respectively.
On Thursday 16 May, CARICOM Heads of Government met with their Spanish counterpart, H.E. Jose Maria Aznar in the Second CARICOM-Spain Summit as a follow-up to their First Meeting, which was held in Port-of-Spain in July 1999. At that First Meeting, CARICOM-Spain relations were put on a firm footing with the signature of the Scientific and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Caribbean Community and the Kingdom of Spain.
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Hon McKeeva Bush Leader of Government Business of the Cayman Islands, Hon. George McCarthy, Financial Secretary, Portfolio of Finance and Economic Development, Cayman Islands and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank, |
The Prime Minister of Spain hosted the Second CARICOM - Spain Summit on 16 May 2002 in Madrid, Spain. In attendance on the Caribbean side were the Presidents of Guyana and Haiti, the Prime Ministers of Barbados, Belize and Jamaica, the Vice President of Suriname and representatives from The Bahamas, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago and the CARICOM Secretary-General.