Forty-Fourth CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting Closes

Phillip Edwards

The Forty-fourth Caricom Heads of Government Meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, came to a close today with a press conference. Over the last three days, leaders from the community have been meeting to address several issues. These issues range from regional trade to health, food security, and financing disaster risk management. As we reported on Thursday night, CARICOM leaders met with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. They also met with the Director General of the World Trade Center. This evening, Phillip Edwards, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance for the Bahamas, briefed the press on the outcomes of those two meetings.

Phillip Edwards, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Bahamas

“The Forty-Fourth Meeting of the Heads of Government for the CARICOM Community was held from Wednesday February fifteenth and concluded this afternoon. We had robust and fruitful discussion and a confident that we have advanced the agenda for CARICOM integration, the growth of our national, regional economies and the wellbeing of our peoples. The conference welcomed several special guests, the Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. He emphasized his government’s commitment to forge stronger ties with the region or the continuation of the Caribbean-Canadian trade agreement, CaribCan, and to support strategies to address climate change and create employment. He also underscored Canada’s commitments to support the ongoing instability in Haiti which is troubling to this region. Heads of Government also welcomed the Director General for the World Trade Organization, Discussion focused on a commitment to CARICOM Countries on the development of rule-based, multilateral trading systems. Member states also discussed completing negotiations towards a comprehensive and effect agreement on fisheries subsidies.”

Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, also updated CARICOM Heads on the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.