Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Belize
Deputy Secretary-General
Your Excellency Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana
Madame Permanent Secretary
Your Excellencies, High Commissioners to CARICOM and the UK
Assistant Secretaries-General
Other Members of Staff of the Secretariat
Member
Honourable S.R. Insanally, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana
Honourable Jack Straw, Secretary of State of the United Kingdom
Honourable Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Other Honourable Ministers of the Caribbean and UK delegations
Other Heads of Delegation
Members of Parliament
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Delegates
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good evening.
Mr. Secretary-General
Colleague Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Caribbean
Excellencies
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
In welcoming you all to this Third UK/Caribbean Forum. I say what an honour it is for Guyana to host this important event.
The Eight Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-Japan Consultation was held at the Jolly Beach Resort in Antigua and Barbuda on 4-5 March 2002. The Delegation of CARICOM Member States was headed by Ambassador Colin Murdoch of Antigua and Barbuda and that of the Government of Japan was headed by Mr. Ken Shimanouchi, Director-General of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At a meeting at the Hilton Hotel, Kingston Jamaica, on 18-19 February 2002, Health Ministers of the Caribbean countries held a successful round of discussions with representatives of leading pharmaceutical Companies on access to care for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Region. This meeting was the first stage in a process and comes close on the heels of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica developing their own national plans in partnership with United Nations agencies and the pharmaceutical industry.
A cross-section of non-state interest groups are scheduled to meet later this week in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines capital, Kingstown, to continue their national dialogue with non-state actors on the regional integration process, particularly as it relates to new and emerging trade agreements. The particular concerns to be addressed by the forum will centre around "fair and just" treatment for all sectors of society as well as positioning of the small economies of the Caribbean in the global arena.
At the Third Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Caribbean and the Secretary of State of the United States Colin Powell, held on Thursday, 7 February 2002 in Nassau, The Bahamas, the Foreign Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic, placed trade and investment issues firmly at the top of their agenda. They reminded the United States of the significant advantage it has been enjoying in its balance of trade with the Caribbean since the establishment of the Caribbean Basin Initiative in the mid 1980s.
More than one hundred delegates assembled at the Princess Hotel in Belize City, Belize on 3-5 February 2002 for the Thirteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, presided over by Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize and Chairman of the Caribbean Community. Among those in attendance were_ Hon. Lester B. Bird, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham, Prime Minister of The Bahamas; Rt. Hon. Owen S. Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados; Hon. Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica; H.E.
Su Excelencia, Enrique Bolanos Gier, Presidente Pro-Tempore del Sistema de Integracion Economica (SICA), y Co-presidente de esta Cumbre Excellencies, Heads of State and Government Excellencies, Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Government Excellencies, Secretaries General of the Organization of American States, the Association of Caribbean States, CARICOM and SICA
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Honorable Members of Delegations
Special Invited Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Welcome to Belize.
Bienvenidos a Belice.
Salutations
We are today convened for the fourth time in seven months; the frequency of our meetings a clear indication of the ever increasing intensity and complexity of the challenges facing our region today.