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​(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) It is my pleasure to welcome you to this Second Forum on Donor Co-ordination and Aid Effectiveness.

In so doing I wish to express the Community’s on-going solidarity with the Government and people of Japan as they continue their struggle to come to terms with the effects of the disastrous earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant leaks. At the same time I am certain that the splendid performance of their successful World Cup women’s football team would have brought joy to the nation. Congratulations!

​Today is for me, and I would hazard, for all of us here, an occasion charged with mixed emotions, those of sadness but also those of satisfaction.

It is always a sad occasion to say farewell to someone; it is all the more so, when the object of these sentiments of “fare thee well” is a person of such stature to whom the Caribbean Community will remain indebted.

The satisfaction comes from celebrating a job well done in Your Honour’s guiding a new regional institution along the path towards excellence and high esteem.

​CARICOM is dead! CARICOM has lost momentum! CARICOME CARIGONE! trumpet the headlines of our regional press.

I stand here today to say_ CARICOM is alive! CARICOM is on the move! CARICOM is here to stay!

How can I stand here and assert this? Because I will, as succinctly as possible, lay out for you today what CARICOM is and you will join with me in seeing that CARICOM is not a uni-dimensional construct but a multi-dimensional living organism.

​Chairman, Dr. the Honourable Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Health, Republic of Guyana

Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis and CARICOM Lead Head of Government for Human Resources, Health and HIV/AIDS Senator the Honourable Therese Baptiste-Cornelis, Minister of Health, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Mirta Roses, Director, Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) Dr. Edward Greene, Special Adviser, Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Development Partners

The myriad issues before this Thirty-Second Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) speak to the breadth and depth of the regional integration movement and its impact on the everyday life of the citizens of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The discussions are taking place in what continues to be a difficult environment in the Region as a result of the global economic and financial crises, although there are some positive signs of recovery with some of our Member States being able to take advantage of the upturn in the
global economy.

​Honourable Dr Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis

Honourable Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Honourable Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of COFCOR Distinguished Ministers of Foreign Affairs of CARICOM Member States Distinguished Guests Senior Officials and Delegates of Member States of CARICOM Member States Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat Representatives of the Media

Chair
Honourable Samuel Hinds, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guyana
Honourable Martin Joseph, Minister of National Security of Trinidad and Tobago and Chair of CONSLE
Honourable Ministers of Government of other Member states
Chair and Members of the Security Policy and Advisory Committee (SEPAC)
Executive Director and staff of the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS)
Staff Members of the CARICOM Secretariat
Representatives of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen