Nine Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are among Heads of State and Government from 133 countries in Havana, Cuba for the South Summit which takes place from 10-14 April 2000. All CARICOM Member States are expected to be represented at the meeting.
The CARICOM Heads of State and Government attending the meeting are, Rt. Hon Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados; Hon Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize; Dr. the Hon Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada; His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana; the Rt Hon Percival J Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica; Hon Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Chairman of the Caribbean Community; Dr. the Hon Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia;His Excellency Dr. Jules Wijdenbosch, President of Suriname and Hon. Basdeo Panday, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
The main themes for the Summit are, Globalization; North-South Relations; South-South Cooperation and Knowledge and Technology. The outcome of the South Summit will be captured in two documents: (1) a forward-looking declaration that should be visionary and strategic in its outlook, setting out the priorities for future action; and (2) an action-oriented document with clearly defined measures, targets and time frame.
The South Summit is the largest gathering of Heads of State and Government from 133 Developing Countries that are members of the Group of 77 also known as the G-77. This will be the first time that the Group of 77 will hold a South Summit.
The Group of 77 ( G 77) was established on 15 June 1964 by seventy-seven developing countries signatories of the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries” issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.
Beginning with the first Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 in Algiers in 1967 which adopted the Charter of Algiers, a permanent institutional structure gradually developed which led to the creation of Chapters of the Group of 77 in Rome (FAO), Vienna (UNIDO), Paris (UNESCO), Nairobi (UNEP) and the Group of 24 in Washington, D.C. (IMF and World Bank). Although the membership of the G-77 has increased to 133 countries, the original name was retained because of its historic significance.
