CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Ministers of the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (CARIFORUM) will meet in Barbados on December 10, 2008 in preparation for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Meeting, proposed for later this month in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Ministerial meeting is intended to revive the Doha Development Round discussions of which broke down last July. The Doha Round is named after the capital of Qatar the country in which the talks began at the end of 2001.

The discussions are aimed at boosting international commerce by removing trade barriers and subsidies. Minimal progress has been made since this multilateral trade negotiation began in 2001. CARIFORUM countries hold strong interests in the WTO Doha Development Agenda in the areas of small economies, special and differential treatment, services, agriculture and non-agricultural market access.

During the meeting in Barbados, the CARIFORUM Ministers will seek to finalise their positions on the issues in order to offer their perspective on the way forward at the talks.