Prime Minister opens 37th regular meeting of the conference of Caricom and Heads of Government

Dr the Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, is presiding over the 37th Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government, spanning from 5 to 6 July, as the Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The Meeting is being held at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, Guyana. Current CARICOM developments are high on the agenda, as is the role of citizenship by investment, the impact of Brexit, and the expansion of the free movement of Caribbean peoples. Relations with Cuba and the Dominican Republic, two Caribbean island-nations currently outside the CARICOM, will also be discussed. The Meeting will provide the opportunity for heads of government to meet both in a formal setting, and to engage in one-on one talks.

It has been reported that a number of VIPs are in attendance for this two-day Meeting, including Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria,, Chile’s 37th and first female President.

In his Presentation marking the beginning of the Meeting, the Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit portrayed the CARICOM as the “fulfilment of a longstanding aspiration of our peoples” to create a “unique ‘Caribbean civilization,’” and urged other heads of government to “focus more closely on what needs to be done to strengthen CARICOM, to make it more economically competitive, and to generate the resources to sustain our togetherness.” The Prime Minister, a firm advocate of Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme, also stressed that CBI programmes that embrace strict due diligence are assets to countries – providing “capital for entrepreneurial development.”

Prime Minister Skerrit is due to remain the Chairman of the CARICOM until 31 December 2016.