Caricom Heads of Government will today deliberate on rising food prices as well as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) being negotiated with the European Union.
The one-day 12th Special Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community is being held at the Guyana International Convention Centre, Liliendaal.
According to the Caricom Secretariat eight Heads of Government will lead their delegations, while senior government functionaries will lead other countries’ delegations.
The Heads expected are Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister (PM) Baldwin Spencer; Barbados’ PM Owen Arthur; Dominica’s PM Roosevelt Skerrit; Grenada’s PM Dr Keith Mitchell; Jamaica’s PM Bruce Golding; St Lucia’s PM Stephenson King; and Trinidad and Tobago’s PM Patrick Manning. President Bharrat Jagdeo will lead Guyana’s team.
In November, Prime Minister Mitchell had called for a meeting of the Heads against the background of the rising food prices. On the margins of the just-concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, the Heads took the decision to hold the Special Meeting in Georgetown.
On the EPA negotiations, the Caricom leaders will be joined by representatives from the Dominican Republic, which is a member of the Cariforum grouping. The region as a member of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) states is now faced with the fast approaching December 31, 2007 deadline for conclusion of its negotiations with its European partners on a new EPA.
