The Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community at their just concluded Twentieth Meeting of the Conference, reviewed the political situation in Guyana particularly in the context of the commitments undertaken under the Herdmanston Accord and the Saint Lucia Statement, to which they are a Party. The Heads of Government noted with satisfaction the progress being made towards fulfilling some key objectives of the two Agreements and agreed to redouble their efforts to support the process.
Guyana
The Parties met at 15_30 hours on 14 June, 1999 as agreed.
Representing the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/Civic) were -
- Mr. Donald Ramotar
- Ms. Gail Teixeira
Representing the Peoples National Congress (PNC) were_
- Mr. Lance Carberry
- Mr. Lloyd Joseph
This was a Preliminary Meeting to discuss proposals by both sides for an agreed agenda for the Dialogue.
The PPP/Civic proposed the following items -
The Fourth Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers, the second highest decision-making forum of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), takes place in Georgetown, Guyana on 11 - 12 June, 1999.
The Community Council of Ministers will examine preparations for the 20th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government which takes place in Trinidad and Tobago on 4 - 7 July, 1999, and the Region's readiness to face the challenges associated with the Y2K phenomenon.
The Sixth Meeting of the Caribbean Community's (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) will be held at the Secretariat's headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana from 4-5 June, 1999.
The two-day meeting of Regional Ministers responsible for trade and or economic matters will focus on a range of issues including those pertinent to agricultural development, the trade in goods and services, external trade and economic relations, and regional standards.
Your Excellency the President of Guyana,
Your Excellency the Vice-President of Costa Rica;
Hon. Prime Minister of Guyana;
Honourable Ministers of CARICOM, Central America and the Dominican Republic;
Distinguished Secretaries-General;
Delegates;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished Guests;
Members of the Media;
Ladies and Gentlemen_
Mr. Chairman, Secretary-General of CARICOM, distinguished Foreign Ministers of CARICOM and Central AMERICA, Members of the Cabinet, Members of the Diplomatic corps, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
On behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, I bid you a very warm welcome to Guyana. I trust that your deliberations will be fruitful and that the results will prove to be beneficial for on-going co-operation between the Governments and peoples of CARICOM-and Central America.
The Secretariats of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) will play host to a delegation from the Dominican Republic in Guyana as a lead activity to the Caribbean-US Forum on Trade and Investment which is scheduled to take place in the Dominican Republic 16-18 March 1999.
The delegation from the Dominican Republic will, on Friday 29 January 1999 have a series of meetings with officials from both the private and public sectors in Guyana as well as with the Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Dr. Carla Barnett.
The Fifth Meeting of the Caribbean Community's (CARICOM) Council For Trade and Economic Development (COTED) begins in Georgetown, Guyana on Thursday.
The PPP/Civic and the PNC have agreed that in an effort to speed up the resolution of issues agreed for discussions the leaders of each Party's Dialogue Team would meet as often as possible outside of the weekly Statutory Meetings of the Dialogue. These meetings of the respective Leaders are described as Bilateral Meetings. Any agreements reached at those bilateral meetings would be reported to the Dialogue and form part of the record of the Dialogue.
Cuba will be the focus of four days of activity in Guyana beginning November 18.
The CARICOM/Cuba Joint Commission will hold its Fifth Meeting on November 18-19 and immediately following, Guyana will be host for a two-day Caribbean/Cuba Trade and Investment Symposium on November 20-21. The symposium is being held with the assistance of the CARICOM Secretariat and the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA).