Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Hon. Gaston Browne has called for urgent renewed unity among CARICOM countries. He was addressing the opening of the Thirty-Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM on Wednesday evening in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The conference takes place July 4-6, 2018.

He said no single CARICOM country had the capacity to face the present or future challenges alone, and noted that there was an unavoidable interdependence of CARICOM countries, as geographical neighbours that compelled co-operation, collaboration and integration to meet development needs.

Prime Minister Browne also suggested that after 53 years, since CARIFTA was established, the Region should have been further along the road to economic integration. Using the example of the European Union, he said others started the process before CARICOM and were much further along. He opined that the people of the Region were no longer as hopeful as they once were regarding regional integration and suggested that the leaders had a chance at the Summit to restore trust and confidence that they could make – and implement – joint decisions.