A vision for the Caribbean Community for the next decade will engage the attention of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community when they gather in Castries, Saint Lucia for their X1X Regular Meeting.
The Meeting begins on Tuesday, 30 June, 1998 with an opening ceremony at the National Cultural Centre in Castries, from 5:30 pm. The plenary sessions takes place from Wednesday 1 July, 1998 at the conference centre located in the National Insurance building, on the Waterfront, in Castries. The Meeting will conclude with a cultual show at the Mindoo Phillips Park on 4 July 1998. That date would be twenty five years to the day that the Caribbean Community was established with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas by the leaders of the four independent countries of the Region at that time, Errol Barrow of Barbados, Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Michael Manley of Jamaica and Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago.
Over the five days, the leaders will hold discussions on a range of issues crucial to the integration movement and the ability of the Region to meet the challenges brought about by trade liberalisation and globalisation.
In this regard, the Region will move one step closer to putting the necessary legal instruments in place for the achievement of a CARICOM Single Market and Economy with the expected approval of three Protocols amending the Treaty of Chaguaramas. These are Protocols 111 which deals with industrial policy, Protocol V which deals with trade liberalisation/common external policy and Protocol V1 which deals with the Region’s agriculture policy.
Issues relating to the Region’s external negotiations and relations will also come up for discussion as well as the status of negotiations for the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements with Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
There will also be discussion relating to the completion of structures of Community Governance with regards to the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The jurisdiction of the Court will be regional and it will replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the Region’s final Court of appeal.
The leaders will also exchange views with the President of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, who comes to the Region as a guest of CARICOM leaders. Another highlight of the meeting will be the conferment of the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) on four distinguished CARICOM nationals.
They are: His Excellency Arthur Napoleon Robinson, former Prime Minister and now President of Trinidad and Tobago; Hon Vere C. Bird, former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Sir Phillip Sherlock, historian and academic and Sir Garfield, record setting cricket great and former captain of the West Indies cricket team.
As this meeting of the Conference takes place during the silver jubilee of the Community, a host of events have been planned to give recognition to the achievements in the Community. On the final night, 4 July, the date in 1973, there will be a grand concert featuring some of the Region’s most talented and internationally renowned performing artists. This event will be broadcasted live across the Region by the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU). On other nights recognition will be given to the achievement of the Region in a host of areas.
