Consultations with key stakeholders have begun across the Region to finalise the CARICOM Industrial Policy and Strategy in time for approval by Ministers of Trade later this year.

Suriname, which holds responsibility for the Industrial Policy in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, is spearheading work towards its completion to present it to a Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in October 2025. The work to be carried out in time for that meeting includes deeper engagements with key stakeholders in the business community.

Food security remains a top priority across the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, where an estimated 3.2 million people are currently affected. Despite global challenges driving higher costs and limiting access to essential goods, we continue working towards solutions that support resilient communities across our Region.

The 19th edition of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) will be launched on Tuesday, 15 July 2025, setting the stage for the event which will be held in St. Kitts and Nevis from 29 September – 3 October. CWA 2025 will be held under the theme ‘Sowing Change, Harvesting Resilience: Transforming Our Caribbean Food Systems for 2025 and Beyond’.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is making significant strides in its pursuit of regional food security, with notable achievements in increased agricultural production, deeper intra-regional cooperation, and improved sector financing.

The Government of Guyana and the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) yesterday signed a US$18 million financing agreement to kickstart the Agricultural and Infrastructural Development Programme (AIDP), which will see over 4,300 farmers across the ten regions of Guyana benefitting, with forty per cent of the beneficiaries being women and youth. The programme will allow for a further boost to Guyana’s agriculture sector in the form of support for compliance with food safety, sanitary and phytosanitary standards in the sector.