(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque welcomes Australian Parliament Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Mr. Richard Marles, MP to the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana. Mr Marles is on a fact finding visit to the region and has visited several CARICOM Member States including Jamaica, St Vincent and Guyana.

Mr Marles, accompanied by His Excellency Phillip Kentwell, Australia’s Ambassador to CARICOM, discussed topical regional issues with the Secretary-General and his team which included Ambassador Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General Foreign and Community Relations. The visit by Mr Marles followed discussions in Perth, Australia in the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last November.

The Secretary-General also used the opportunity to thank Australia for its assistance to CARICOM in general and particularly to the Community’s efforts to assist Haiti in the wake of the earthquake of 2010. Australia continues to lend considerable technical support within the framework of a 2009 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Technical Cooperation and a development program valued at 60 million AUS$ over a four year period.