St. Kitts – Nevis’ PM – Denzil Douglas
Photo By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
May 03, 2011 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is to give the Feature Address at the Opening Ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR).
Also down to address the Opening Ceremony at the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel and Royal Beach Casino are the Honourable Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Security, Immigration, Labour, and Social Security of St. Kitts and Nevis; Hon. Dr. John Collin McIntyre, Minister of Employment, Trade, Industry and Diaspora of the Commonwealth of Dominica and Outgoing Chairman of COFCOR and Her Excellency Ms. Lolita Applewhaite, Acting Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The Ceremony will be chaired by his Excellency Ambassador Errol Maynard.
During the May 4th and 5th meeting the CARICOM Foreign Ministers will meet during an important period in world affairs. Over the next year CARICOM will be engaged in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, a High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, and Climate Change deliberations to name a few. These issues will fall under the responsibility of the Chair of the COFCOR for that period, St. Kitts and Nevis.
Similarly, coordinating on a CARICOM position to deal with developments around the world as they occur will also fall under the responsibility of the Chair, and these emerging issues will also be discussed during the Meeting of the COFCOR.
The issues that will be discussed at the Meeting include an update on issues related to Haiti, especially following that country’s recent elections, and the status of the international assistance following the earthquake, hurricane, and cholera outbreak; Coordination of Foreign Policy in order to have a joint position on many of the pressing issues affecting the international community; CARICOM Relations with Third Countries, such as Canada, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Australia, Austria, Spain, the United Kingdom and South Africa as well as The Association of Caribbean States, (ACS); The Commonwealth; The United Nations; The Organization of American States (OAS); International Security Matters; The Caribbean Sea Initiative; Climate Change and Candidatures.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Baldwin Spencer is heading his nation?s delegation while the Foreign Affairs are heading the delegations from Belize, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Jamaica is being represented by Minister of State, while Ambassadors are heading the delegations from Haiti, Surname and the Bahamas.