Remarks by CARICOM Secretary-General at Meeting Between Caribbean Leaders and US Vice President in The Bahamas, 8 June 2023

CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett, on Thursday, 8 June 2023, made remarks at the meeting between Caribbean Heads of State and Government and the Vice President of the United States.

Please read her remarks below:

Honourable Philip Davis, Prime Minister of The Bahamas and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and other Caribbean Heads of Government:

Madame Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, and Members of the United States Delegation

Honourable Ministers of Foreign Affairs of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic and Heads of Delegations;

The Caribbean Community welcomes this meeting between Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean and the Vice President of the United States. It represents the commitment of both the Caribbean and the United States to our relationship and presents an ideal platform for productive discussions.

Madame Vice President, Member States of the Caribbean Community and the wider Caribbean present here today attach great value to the enduring friendship with the United States. It is a relationship characterised by collaboration on many issues of mutual importance, including trade and investment, security, health, energy, disaster management and climate change. It is why we are here today to follow up on the work of the High-Level Action Committees which were established at the meeting in Los Angeles one year ago to address the Caribbean’s most pressing priorities of energy security, food security and access to development financing.

I also wish to acknowledge the US-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis (PACC 2030), as well as the significant announcements that were made this morning regarding expanding US programmes in the Caribbean region, including support for our sister CARICOM Member State, Haiti.

There is not a lot of time for long speeches today, so as I hand back the floor to the political leadership here today, I say welcome, Madame Vice President to you and your delegation. I am confident that the discussions today will enhance the very strong Caribbean-United States alliance.

I thank you.

Source: CARICOM TODAY