KINGSTON, Jamaica, December 6, 14 – Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller will lead Jamaica’s delegation to the Fifth Summit of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba, which will be held in Havana, Cuba, on Monday, December 8, 2014.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister is slated to lead discussions on a range of trade, investment and cooperation issues of benefit to Jamaica with the country’s closest neighbour.
Jamaica and Cuba are currently engaged in several areas of technical cooperation, and culture, sports, health and agriculture have been identified as some of the possible areas for further cooperation.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, as the Chairman of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Trade, is also expected to lead discussions on trade and investment involving Cuba and the 15 member countries of CARICOM.
During the visit to Cuba, the Prime Minister has been specially invited to be a keynote speaker, along with Cuban President Raul Castro, at an Official Ceremony on Sunday, December 7, to commemorate the 118thAnniversary of the Death of Cuban Liberator and Hero, Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo, an icon of the Cuban War of Independence. Maceo had spent considerable time in Jamaica, where his mother also lived and died.
The Prime Minister will depart Jamaica for Cuba, on Saturday, December 6 and will return on Tuesday, December 9. During her visit to Cuba, Hon. Omar Davies, Minister of Transport, Works and Housing will be in charge of the Government.
Jamaica’s delegation to the CARICOM-Cuba Summit includes: Senator the Hon. Arnold J. Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Ambassador A’Dale Robinson, Jamaica’s resident Ambassador in Havana, Cuba; and other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Office of the Prime Minister.
The CARICOM-Cuba Summit will be convened under the joint chairmanship of the Hon. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and Chairman of CARICOM and President Raύl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba. The Summit will provide the opportunity for the Jamaican Prime Minister and the other CARICOM leaders to engage in discussions on the strengthening of economic and technical cooperation with Cuba.
The Summit is expected to adopt an agreed Declaration on the commitments made by the Caribbean leaders to advance CARICOM-Cuba cooperation and economic and trade relations in the areas of health, agriculture, education, security, disaster risk management, sports and culture, transport and improved connectivity in the region, and trade development. The Declaration will also include initiatives for further collaboration on hemispheric and international issues of mutual interest, including wider regional integration, climate change and sustainable development, HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other global health issues.
