Incoming Chair of the Conference
Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica, will chair the 49th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, which takes place in Montego Bay, Jamaica from 6-8 July, 2025.
Prime Minister Holness holds a Doctor of Law and Policy degree from the Northeastern University and is an alumnus of The University of the West Indies, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Studies and a Master of Science degree in Development Studies. He holds the distinction of becoming the youngest Jamaican elected as a Member of Parliament, at the age of 25 years. In 2011, Prime Minister Holness set a new milestone by becoming Jamaica’s youngest Prime Minister and the first born after the country’s independence in 1962. He was elected in 2016 at 44 years old, becoming the youngest to be elected to the office. In 2020, Prime Minister Holness secured a second term as Prime Minister. He oversees key portfolio areas, including defence and economic growth and job creation, encompassing housing, water, climate change, and works.
In the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, Prime Minister Holness has responsibility for external trade negotiations.
Prime Minister Holness holds a Doctor of Law and Policy degree from the Northeastern University and is an alumnus of The University of the West Indies, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Studies and a Master of Science degree in Development Studies. He holds the distinction of becoming the youngest Jamaican elected as a Member of Parliament, at the age of 25 years. In 2011, Prime Minister Holness set a new milestone by becoming Jamaica’s youngest Prime Minister and the first born after the country’s independence in 1962. He was elected in 2016 at 44 years old, becoming the youngest to be elected to the office. In 2020, Prime Minister Holness secured a second term as Prime Minister. He oversees key portfolio areas, including defence and economic growth and job creation, encompassing housing, water, climate change, and works.
In the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, Prime Minister Holness has responsibility for external trade negotiations.
Dr the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
Chair of the Conference
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, SC, MP, became Barbados’ first female Prime Minister on 25 May 2018. She has been a member of Parliament since 1994 and previously served as an Opposition Senator. Prime Minister Mottley held various Cabinet roles, including Attorney General, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture. She was the youngest person to become a Queen’s Counsel in Barbados.
In the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, Prime Minister Mottley holds responsibility for the Single Market and Economy (including Monetary Union). Prime Minister Mottley has been working with the Community to enable the full free movement of all CARICOM nationals. With this vision, she is working to see CARICOM national who exercise the right of free movement to have fundamental guarantees, allowing them to move freely and stay indefinitely in a CARICOM Member State. The Community has also been working to reinvigorate the CARICOM Single Market, positioning the CSME as true single market to propel growth and development of CARICOM Member States.
In the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, Prime Minister Mottley holds responsibility for the Single Market and Economy (including Monetary Union). Prime Minister Mottley has been working with the Community to enable the full free movement of all CARICOM nationals. With this vision, she is working to see CARICOM national who exercise the right of free movement to have fundamental guarantees, allowing them to move freely and stay indefinitely in a CARICOM Member State. The Community has also been working to reinvigorate the CARICOM Single Market, positioning the CSME as true single market to propel growth and development of CARICOM Member States.
Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, SC, MP
Prime Minister of Barbados
Host Country · Jamaica
The Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 6-8 July 2025.
A founding member of CARICOM, Jamaica holds responsibility for external trade negotiations in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet. It is home to a satellite office of the Directorate of CARICOM Single Market and Trade of the CARICOM Secretariat, which plays a crucial role in facilitating trade negotiations and the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Jamaica hosts several CARICOM Institutions:
• Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) and
• an office of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
It is also home to The University of the West Indies (UWI), an Associate Institution of CARICOM.
A founding member of CARICOM, Jamaica holds responsibility for external trade negotiations in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet. It is home to a satellite office of the Directorate of CARICOM Single Market and Trade of the CARICOM Secretariat, which plays a crucial role in facilitating trade negotiations and the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Jamaica hosts several CARICOM Institutions:
• Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) and
• an office of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
It is also home to The University of the West Indies (UWI), an Associate Institution of CARICOM.
LOCATION: Jamaica is the third-largest island in the Caribbean and lies south of Cuba and west of Haiti. The country has a populace of almost three million. Its largest city is its capital, Kingston.
CULTURE: Known as ‘Land of Wood and Water ‘, Jamaica is renowned for its cultural identity; reggae music, which is legendary; dominance in athletics, and the Blue Mountains.
HOST: CARICOM Heads of Government met in Jamaica, in Ocho Rios, in 1982 for their Third summit following the establishment of the Caribbean Community in 1973. Jamaica hosted the Eleventh Meeting of the Conference in 1990. Montego Bay was the venue of the Eighteenth, Twenty-Fourth, Thirty-First and Thirty-Ninth Regular Meetings of the Conference in 1997, 2003 and 2010, and 2018, respectively.
CULTURE: Known as ‘Land of Wood and Water ‘, Jamaica is renowned for its cultural identity; reggae music, which is legendary; dominance in athletics, and the Blue Mountains.
HOST: CARICOM Heads of Government met in Jamaica, in Ocho Rios, in 1982 for their Third summit following the establishment of the Caribbean Community in 1973. Jamaica hosted the Eleventh Meeting of the Conference in 1990. Montego Bay was the venue of the Eighteenth, Twenty-Fourth, Thirty-First and Thirty-Ninth Regular Meetings of the Conference in 1997, 2003 and 2010, and 2018, respectively.
Sights and Sounds of Jamaica
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