PM Dickon Mitchell’s first overseas trip is to 43rd Caricom Heads meeting

by Linda Straker

• PM Mitchell is one of 3 recently elected Prime Ministers scheduled to attend
• Community’s Ministers of Finance and Planning will meet on Sunday, 3 July
• Order of Caribbean Community will be awarded during the Ceremony

The first overseas trip of newly elected Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell is to attend the 43rd regular meeting of Heads of Government of Caricom. The meeting is scheduled to take place in Suriname from 3-5 July 2022.

He is expected to be accompanied by a delegation from Grenada. The Business Sessions will be held at the Torarica Resort, Paramaribo, on Monday and Tuesday, 4-5 July. The Community’s Ministers of Finance and Planning will meet on Sunday, 3 July with major economic development issues on the agenda.

The Heads of Government are expected to deliberate on a wide range of issues of importance to the Community, including Covid-19 and Its Impact on The Region; Advancing Regional Food and Nutrition Security; Actions To Support CSME Implementation and Climate Change and Climate Financing.

A news release on Caricom website said that the Heads are expected to deliberate on the ongoing regional Public Health Response and Economic Recovery measures and the Meeting will hear from the Lead Head on Agriculture and the Special Caricom Ministerial Task Force on Agriculture on moving the sector forward.

The Heads are also expected to hear from the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the CSME on required actions and advocate for a more systematic global response to help address the adverse impact of climate change, and the Region’s Plan of Work for COP27 will be key areas for deliberation.

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell is one of 3 recently elected Prime Ministers scheduled to attend the meeting. The other 2 are Prime Minister of St Lucia Phillip Pierre, and Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hon Phillip Davis. They are all scheduled to address the opening ceremony.

The Opening Ceremony for the meeting will be held at the Assuria Event Centre, on Sunday 3 July 2022. Remarks will be presented by: Caricom Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett; Outgoing Chairman of Caricom, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceno of Belize; Incoming Chairman of Caricom and President Chandrikapersad Santokhi of Suriname.

The Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) will be awarded to designated recipients during the Ceremony which will feature cultural presentations reflecting the membership of Caricom.