(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana)Caribbean Ministers attending Phase 11 of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have been very involved in the activities in Tunis, Tunisia where the Summit opened on Wednesday 16 November.

The Hon Burchell Whiteman, Jamaica’s Minister of Information and his colleague the Hon. Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology have participated in official parallel events at the Summit site.

Mr. Whiteman took part in a panel discussion at the World Electronic Media Forum while Mr. Paulwell participated in a High Level Panel on ICT For Development, along with the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), His Excellency Yoshio Utsumi, who is also Secretary-General of the Summit.

Three CARICOM Member States, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are participating in the WSIS. Trinidad and Tobago will be the first to address the Forum when Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration, Ms Gillian McIntyre takes the podium on Thursday 17 November during the morning session.

Jamaica’s statement will be delivered by Mr. Whiteman during the evening session on Thursday while the Hon Lynette Eastmond, Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development will deliver the statement on behalf of Barbados on the morning of Friday 18 November.

Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite will table the CARICOM Secretariat’s statement during Friday’s session.

The Summit is expected to endorse a cluster of documents including the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society before it ends on 18 November.