(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Fourth CARICOM/Spain Summit takes place at the Moncloa Palace, Madrid, Spain, on Friday 11 July 2008 against the backdrop of the celebration of CARICOM Day at the World’s Fair in Zaragoza, Spain on 12 July 2008.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman, the Honourable Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and His Excellency Jose Luis Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain, will jointly preside over the Summit to be held at the Palace housing the offices of the Spanish Prime Minister.
The fourth Summit follows the first in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 1999 and the other two in Madrid in 2002 and 2006. Spain has emerged as the major destination for CARICOM’s exports to Europe, accounting for 30 percent of the export trade in 2006, while Spain for its part is the main European exporter to the Region with exports accounting for 20 percent of the European total in 2006.
Spain has indicated a strong interest in becoming a member of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and in making a contribution to the CARICOM Development Fund. Negotiations are underway in respect of a proposed Spanish contribution to the Special Development Fund of the CDB.
The Heads of Government will seek to bring their Spanish counterpart up to date with respect to: the CARICOM Single Market and Economy; Heavily Indebted Emerging Market Countries of which seven of the top ten are CARICOM Member States; the Caribbean Sea Initiative which seeks to have the Caribbean Sea internationally recognised as a Special Area in the context of Sustainable Development; and Trade and Investment in the Region.
Spain is interested in discussing the Alliance of Civilisations which was established in 2005 by Spain and Turkey to create global political space to combat a lack of mutual understanding and communication between the Western World and the Arab-Islamic World. A conference on this initiative was held in Saint Lucia in 2006.
The reform of international Institutions, the EU/Latin America and the Caribbean (EU/LAC) Summit process and continued international support for Haiti are among other issues for discussion.
Ten of the 15 Member States of the Community will be represented at the meeting with the Honourable David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados being the other Head of Government present. The deputy Prime Ministers of The Bahamas and Jamaica are representing their countries with the delegations of Guyana, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago being led by cabinet ministers. Haiti and Suriname will also be represented. Deputy Secretary-General Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite and Assistant Secretary-General Foreign and Community Relations Ambassador Colin Granderson are representing the CARICOM Secretariat.
