(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown Guyana) Following a successful historic meeting of Heads of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Institutions in 2007, the CARICOM Secretary-General, His Excellency Edwin W Carrington will again facilitate a second meeting of these institutions on 30 -31 July 2008 at the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Georgetown, Guyana.

Thirty one regional Institutions, including have been invited to the two-day meeting which will build on the initial attempt at harmonising the work of institutions in the Community to ensure a more efficient and effective use of available resources. It is also envisaged that such harmonisation would galvanize efforts in the implementation of CARICOM Heads of Government decisions. This is in keeping with the Declaration of Needham’s Point: A Community for All, by Heads of Government at the Twenty-Eighth Regular Meeting in Barbados, July 2007.

It was against this background that the first Meeting, which was attended by twenty-two Heads of Regional Institutions and described as a tremendous success was held and resulted in a frank exchange of views on the broad vision for the development of the Community and on the contribution that those Institutions could make towards achieving that vision.

So productive was the 2007 inaugural meeting that a decision was made to institutionalise such meetings on a biennial basis. However in an effort to maintain momentum, it was also agreed to hold a second meeting in 2008 to follow-up on actions emanating from the first meeting.

A number of sectoral clusters including Agriculture, Air Transportation, Climate Change, Security and Water Management were also established at that inaugural meeting and the Institutions involved in those clusters will meet on 28 -29 July with a view to coordinating their activities, thereby developing synergies, maximising their efforts and avoiding duplication of resources.

It is expected that recommendations from the clusters will be tabled at the July 30-31 meeting.