Press Releases

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Government of Guyana through its Civil Defense Commission (CDC) today received a quantity of food and household supplies from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat to assist with the continuing relief efforts in the wake of massive flooding that has left unprecedented damage in segments of the country.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Jamaica, on Tuesday at the Second Special Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP), joined Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago in making an initial pledge to the regional Development Fund. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago had made initial pledges last December at the First Special Meeting of COFAP.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary- General of the United Nations (UN), Mr. Kofi Annan has joined with the rest of the international community in congratulating the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the formal launch of the CARICOM Single Market.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Forum for African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (CARIFORUM) has secured a grant of €3.4 million from the European Commission to support the Region’s disaster preparedness programme. The project will be executed by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA).

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) “Towards the Single Economy”, a report compiled by Professor Norman Girvan will be presented at a Consultative Symposium at the Savannah Hotel in Barbados on Friday, 6 October 2006. This Symposium is a follow-up to that entitled Caribbean Connect which was held at the Sherbourne Centre from 28 – 30 June 2006 and is being organised by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and the University of the West Indies.

As Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, it is not only a very special honour and privilege but also a great pleasure to be able to offer these brief remarks on the occasion of the twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Caribbean Community. The task is all the more pleasant for the fact that I had the good fortune to be at Chaguaramas to witness the signing of the Treaty, which transformed the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) into CARICOM on that historic Fourth of July 1973.

The Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED-Trade), will hold its inaugural meeting in Georgetown, Guyana on September 11, 1997. This Council came into being with the coming into force of Protocol I and replaces the longstanding Common Market Council.

During this week's Meeting, Ministers responsible for Trade will review the implementation of the provisions of Protocol I and the status of Protocol II, and will discuss the programme for completion of the remaining Protocols, and the finalisation of the process for revising the Treaty of Chaguaramas.