FRANCO-CARIFORUM SUMMIT IN GUADELOUPE

Heads of State and Government of CARIFORUM, which is comprised of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member countries, as well as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, will meet with the President of France, Jacques Chirac, at a one-day summit in Guadeloupe on 10 March, 2000. Mr. Edwin Carrington, the Secretary-General of CARICOM, who is also the Secretary-General of CARIFORUM, will also be in attendance.

The meeting is billed as the Franco-CARIFORUM Summit, and is being held at the invitation of President Chirac who will assume the Presidency of the European Union later this year.

A range of issues of mutual benefit, interest and concern to CARIFORUM Member Countries and France are slated for discussion.

The focal point of the meeting is expected to be discussions on relations with Europe and the implications of the successor arrangement to Lomé 1V, the economic and trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and countries of the Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) grouping.

The negotiations which were recently concluded on the successor arrangement and which is scheduled to be signed in May this year will also engage the attention of the Franco-CARIFORUM Summit.

The CARIFORUM leaders and President Chirac will also look at cooperation issues as part of the agenda items. In this regard, their attention will focus on cooperation between France in the Caribbean - Martinique and Guadeloupe - and the rest of the Caribbean. The CARIFORUM countries are likely to take the opportunity to update the President on advances made towards international recognition of the particular circumstances of small states in a globalised economy.

The leaders will also look at areas of cooperation in transport, the environment and natural disasters, agronomic research, and security issues such as those relating to illegal trafficking of drugs and firearms. The discussions will also cover sport and culture.

The meeting between CARIFORUM leaders and President Chirac takes place against the background of increasing efforts in strengthening the relationship between France and the rest of the Caribbean.