At least eleven Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders are expected in Belize City, Belize, for the Twentieth Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM on 12-13 March 2009.
Their Excellencies Bharrat Jagdeo and Drs Runaldo Venetian, Presidents of Guyana and Suriname respectively; the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister of the Bahamas; the Hon. David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados; the Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica, the Hon. Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister of Grenada; the Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica; the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis; and the Hon. Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago will join host Prime Minister, the Hon. Dean Barrow for the Meeting.
Among the Associate Members, the Hon. Osbourne Flemming, Chief Minister of Anguilla and the Cabinet Secretary of Bermuda, the Hon. Marc Telemaque will also attend the Meeting.
High on the agenda of matters the Heads will tackle during their two-day meeting are the current international financial and economic crisis, the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the status of preparations for negotiations for the CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement and the governance of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).
The Intersessional Meeting will be preceded by a Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee Meeting on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Issues and recommendations from that Meeting will be presented to the Intersessional.
Heads will also deliberate on an integrated approach to climate change and the renewable energy agenda; justice and governance; tourism, and crime and security. Developments with regard to the Jagdeo Initiative, the future of air and maritime transport in the Region, Information and Communication Technology and Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture, are among the other items on the packed agenda.
Prime Minister Barrow and Secretary-General of CARICOM, His Excellency Edwin Carrington, will address the Opening Ceremony before the business sessions begin.
