It is always a pleasure to welcome representatives of CARICOM Member States to the Community's Headquarters here in Georgetown. It is especially so today because you represent an interest group which is in a key position to influence both the direction and the pace of future development of our Region. Coming as you do from Government Information Services, regional media houses, non-governmental organisations and private sector bodies, you also represent major stakeholders in this business of regional integration.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media
Distinguished Guests
Members of Staff of the Secretariat
It is indeed a very great pleasure for me to welcome you to this the Second Meeting of the Regional Collaborative Network in Support for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSM&E) Public Education Programme. The task is particularly pleasing because today I address you Members of the Media as the principal participants.
Parliamentarians from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) last week in Belize debated critical and important issues affecting the Region and the process of Regional Integration. The Region's Parliamentarians have pledged their support towards the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the flag ships of the regional integration movement.
At the invitation of His Excellency Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan, President of the Republic of Suriname, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, Mr. Edwin Carrington will participate in Suriname's 25th Anniversary celebrations on 25-26 November 2000.
Mr. Carrington has also been invited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Maria Levens to make a presentation on the regional integration process during a working lunch with the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Suriname.
Prime Ministers, Ministers, Excellencies, Colleagues in the Public Sector, the Private Sector, the Labour Movement, Consumer Bodies, Non-Governmental Organisations, Bar Associations, Universities, Media from across the Region - Good morning and welcome to this the Second Special Consultation on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
Mr. Chairman
Ministers of Government
Your Excellency Sir Colville Young, Governor General of Belize,
Honourable Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
Madame Speaker of the Assembly
Honourable Ministers
Members of the Assembly
Member of the Diplomatic Corps
Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community
Distinguished Guests
Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Madam/Mr. Speaker, allow me on behalf of the Government and People of Belize to warmly welcome to Belize this Assembly of distinguished Caribbean Community Parliamentarians, the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), observers, and other distinguished guests.
Madam/Mr. Speaker, it was some six years ago in 1994 that the Inter-Governmental Agreement establishing the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP) entered into force. Two years later the First Meeting of the ACCP was held in Barbados in May 1996.
(i) The Recent Venezuela Oil Facility Offer
The Bureau welcomed the offer of the Government of Venezuela of an Energy Accord (the Caracas Energy Accord) to supplement the existing San Jose Agreement, thereby providing additional support on a bilateral basis to several oil-importing countries in the Caribbean and Central America.
Officials from Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), began a two-day meeting of officials in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda today to establish a timetable for the removal of restrictions affecting the application of Protocol II to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).