CARICOM Secretary-General Mr. Edwin Carrington is closing off a busy year with a heavy schedule of engagements, which began last weekend.
On Sunday, Mr. Carrington left the Region with the Chairman of the Community Council of Ministers, the Hon. K. D. Knights, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, on a six-day visit to India in response to an invitation from that country’s government. The highlight of the long-delayed visit will be the signing of an Agreement approved by both sides to establish a Standing Joint Commission on Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination between CARICOM and the Government of India.
The invitation was originally extended in 2001 but the visit had to be postponed following the events of September 11 of that year. A subsequent date in 2002 for the visit also had to be pushed back. While in India, the CARICOM delegation will hold talks with India’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shri Yashwant Sinha and other Government Ministers. They will also visit industrial and technology sites in Agra, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Mr. Carrington leaves India on 30 November for the United Kingdom where he will join CARICOM Heads of Government in the final preparations for their Summit with British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair in London on 2 December. Some of the issues that will be discussed at this Summit include Regional Security, Trade Negotiations (at the level of the World Trade Organisation and the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group and the European Union (EU)) and a review of the work of the UK/Caribbean Forum.
It is expected that the leaders would exchange views on some of the important issues to be discussed at Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) which will take place a couple of days later in Abuja, Nigeria. The Secretary-General also will be attending the CHOGM, which takes place on 5-8 December.
Secretary-General Carrington leaves Nigeria on December 9 and heads to New York, USA for the Inter Governmental Organisation’s session on SIDS+10. This session is the latest in preparation for the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
The Secretary-General is expected to return to Guyana on December 15.
