My presence here today as Prime Minister is the consequence of an electoral choice that is without precedent in the post-independence history of my country.
It focuses my mind on the fact that we live in unprecedented times – in a world caught up with difficult and dangerous new tensions, and confronted with blistering and bewildering change that makes it often very difficult for our people to see the future.
Honourable Ministers
Other Heads of Delegation
Distinguished Delegates
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is my pleasure this morning, as Secretary-General, to welcome you to the Twelfth Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers, the second highest decision-making body in the Caribbean Community.
Chairman and Members of CARICOM,
Host Minister Hon. Clement Rohee,
outgoing Chair Hon Margaret Dyer-Howe,
Colleague Ministers,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Representatives of Member Governments,
Representatives of Inter-Hemispheric and Regional Governments,
Ambassador Richard Bernal - Director of the Regional Negotiating Machinery,
Friends of the Media_
Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and Incoming Chairman of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), Hon. Sam Condor;
Minister of Agriculture, Housing, Lands and the Environment of Montserrat and Outgoing Chairman of the Coted, Hon. Margaret Dyer-Howe;
Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of Guyana and Host Minister, Hon. Clement Rohee;
Deputy Prime Ministers;
Ministers;
A team of Haitian Trade officials will begin a two-week study-tour on Monday 2 June 2003, spending the first week in Georgetown, Guyana, at the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). They will spend the second week in Trinidad & Tobago to complete the familiarisation exercise of the CARICOM machinery particularly as it relates to trade.
The Sixth Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) was held in Kingstown, St Vincent on 8-9 May, 2003. The Ministers attending were_ the Hon Frederick Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service, The Bahamas; the Hon Godfrey Smith, Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Belize; the Hon. Elvin Nimrod, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Affairs, Grenada; the Hon. F.O. Riviere, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Marketing, Dominica; Hon. S. R.
Members of Parliament
Colleague Foreign Ministers
Secretary General, Mr Edwin Carrington
Members of the Judiciary, and the Clergy
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Senior Government Officials
Delegates
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are meeting at a time when the international community seems preoccupied with war and the consequences of war, in the midst of a global economic meltdown.
Mr. Secretary-General,
My colleague, the British High Commissioner, representing the Presidency of the EU in Guyana
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Members of the media,
Special invitees,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the European Commissioner for Development, Mr. Poul Nielson, I wish to express the Commission’s satisfaction on this occasion of the signing of the Regional Strategy Paper and Regional Indicative Programme.
The people of Montserrat will get an opportunity to see the CARICOM Torch of Unity from May 7-9, 2003. Confirmation of this has come from officials in the Office of the Chief Minister and the Sports Officer, Fitzroy Buffonge.
The Torch is scheduled to arrive in Montserrat on the morning of May 7 on the ferry from Antigua.
At its Fourteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting (in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 14-15 February 2003), the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community “considered the situation developing over Iraq and expressed their profound concern at the escalation of global tensions and their grave implications for the preservation of international peace and security.”
Since then there has been an outbreak of war. The Caribbean Community regrets the resulting loss of life on all sides.