SICA & CARICOM Hold Economic and Political Dialogue in Belize

Wayne McCook

Earlier today in Placencia, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade for the Central American Integration System, SICA, and CARICOM held an economic and political dialogue.  The discussion comes as part of a series of meetings being held under Belize’s pro tem presidency of SICA.  This morning, Assistant Secretary General for CARICOM, Wayne McCook addressed the gathering.

Wayne McCook, Assistant Secretary General, CARICOM

“Belize, as a member of both the Central American Integration System, SICA, and the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, plays a critical role in the effort to deepen relations between our sub regions and to foster political dialogue and cooperation.  The community is grateful for the consistent leadership provided by Belize in this effort.  The agenda for this meeting anticipates a political dialogue on a range of issues and it will draw upon examples and experiences from our respective sub regions.  There is much that we can learn from each other and much that we can do together to advance our plan of action in areas such as trade and investment, climate change, environment and natural disasters, crime and security, cultural exchanges and human resource development.  There’s active engagement between our sub regions within the framework of an inter-secretariat process among the CARICOM, SICA, and ACS secretariats.  The secretaries general of CARICOM, SICA and SIECA, met in May 2023 in the margins of the ACS summit in Guatemala and discussed ways in which the institutions can enhance support for inter-regional cooperation.  There is, in fact, a meeting being planned in Trinidad & Tobago of ACS, CARICOM, SICA and immediately after the upcoming meeting of CARICOM heads of government.”