The Fifteenth Meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) takes place on Monday, November 11, in Bridgetown, Barbados.
The Bureau comprises of the Chairman, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, Prime Minister Said Musa of Belize,(the immediate past chairman); Prime Minister Pierre Charles of Dominica (the incoming chairman); and the Secretary-General, Mr Edwin Carrington.
This meeting will seek to advance specific issues which have been put on the fast track by the Conference of Heads of Government. These include the establishment of the Regional Stabilisation Fund which arose out of the discussions at the Special Heads of Government Meeting on August 16 last which focussed on the economic difficulties of Member States. The Bureau is expected to receive an interim report from the Committee of Central Bank Governors who were mandated by that Special Meeting to set up the Fund.
The Bureau will also assess progress with respect to financing the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) following up the decision taken at the Heads of Government Meeting in Guyana earlier this year in July. At that meeting the Caribbean Development Bank was requested to raise US $100 million on international capital markets on behalf of the 15 CARICOM Member States to place in a Trust Fund to finance the CCJ. President of the Bank Professor Compton Bourne will present an update on this matter to the Bureau.
For the discussion on the CCJ it is expected that the Prime Minister of Barbados who has lead responsibility for the Single Market and Economy will join the session along with the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia who has lead responsiblity for Governance and the Attorney General of Barbados in her capacity as head of the Preparatory Committee for establishing the CCJ. Also down for discussion are other outstanding issues with respect to the establishment of the Court.
Tourism will also be in focus on Monday at the meeting which will take place at the Conference Room of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Unit’s office at Tom Adams Financial Centre. The leaders will accept a progress report on the Sustainable Tourism Development Fund, a proposal which came out of the Special Summit on Tourism which took place in Nassau, The Bahamas in December 2001.
The Bureau will also take a first look at proposals to celebrate next year’s 30th anniversary of the Community as well as the plans for CARIFESTA VIII scheduled to take place in Suriname next year under the theme “Many Cultures- The Essence of Togetherness – The Spirit of the Caribbean”.
