SPECIAL COTED TO CONSIDER REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) vision for a single regional airline is among key agenda items for the Twenty-Second Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development scheduled for 21-22 May 2007 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to address regional transportation matters.

The Special Meeting of Ministers was mandated by the 18th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government held in February in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to consider air and maritime transport policy issues, including the elaboration of a Regional Transportation Policy and a vision for a regional airline.

The meeting comes at a time when regional shipping and air travel have come under sharp focus with the urgent need to improve our transportation services in consolidating the CSME, the launch in January 2007 of Caribbean Airlines, formerly BWIA, the proposed merger in June of LIAT and Caribbean Star Airlines, the increasing cost of shipping and air travel, and new flight schedules and routings.

The development of maritime transportation, particularly within the context of calls for the introduction of a new inter-island ferry service in the Eastern Caribbean, will also be discussed. In addition, the Ministers will have consultations with regional airlines, receive an update on the initiative to designate the Regional Aviation Safety Oversight System, an Institution of the Community, and consider recommendations from a technical Team on air services consultations with the United States and the European Commission.