Bahamas

The Eighth Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) was held in Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas, on 1-2 June 2005. The Ministers attending were_ Dr the Hon. Edmund Mansoor, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Antigua and Barbuda; Hon Frederick A Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service, The Bahamas; Hon. Dame Billie Miller, D.A, B.C.H, Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Barbados; Hon.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Eighth meeting of CARICOM's Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) got on the way in Freeport The Bahamas on 1 June with an extensive agenda focusing on Regional security matters and CARICOM's relationship with traditional partners and building relations with others.

Hon Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Members of Parliament
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen_

Welcome to this the Eighth Meeting of the Caribbean Community's Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR).

Hon. Fred Mitchell, Foreign Minister of The Bahamas, welcome to the Chair of this vital Organ of the Caribbean Community.

Distinguished Secretary General
Colleague Ministers
Excellencies and other representatives of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media

It is an honour and a privilege to welcome colleague Ministers of Foreign Affairs and their delegations to this Eighth Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR). On behalf of the Prime Minister, the Government and people of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, we are honoured to host this important meeting in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Chairman, the Hon Fred Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Colleague Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean Community
Secretary General of the Caribbean Community
Excellencies
Senior Officials
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me begin by thanking the Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for their warm hospitality in hosting us for this Eighth Meeting of the COFCOR.

Hon. Marcus Bethel, Minister of Health and the Environment
Hon. Ministers
Amb. Anwarul Chowdhury, Secretary-General of the Mauritius Conference
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

Permit me firstly, to join with the previous speakers in expressing sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government and People of The Bahamas, for hosting this meeting. There is no need for me to stress how important the subject of our deliberations is. My comments will be brief and to the point.

“Robin Hood used to rob from the rich to give to the poor.
    The global market economy is causing the exact reverse”
    [Address by The Most Hon. P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica
    “CARICOM Beyond Thirty_ Connecting with the Diaspora”.
    at CARICOM 30th Anniversary Lecture, New York, 2 October 2003]

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) is convening a Technical Consultation on Services to be held in Nassau, Bahamas from March 24 to 25. The Technical Consultation will be followed by a meeting of the CARICOM Working Group on Services Negotiations from March 25 to 26. The Technical Consultation will assist trade officials in formulating regional negotiating positions in certain aspects of the services sector.

Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr Edwin Carrington will lead a delegation on a two-day Briefing Mission to The Bahamas, on 13-14 March 2003. During the mission the Secretary General and his team will meet with high-level government officials, the Opposition, The Bahamas Trade Commission (BTC) and the Bahamian public.

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS - The Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Ambassador the Honorable Dr. Richard Bernal, O.J., was the principle speaker at a town hall meeting, at the Nassau Beach Hotel, in the Bahamas on Monday the 20th of January. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Bahamian public to be sensitized about The Bahamas’ involvement in trade agreements.