(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Hon. Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda will launch a Regional Symposium on Services on Thursday 4 June 2009. Prime Minister Spencer, the Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Services in the Quasi Cabinet of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will launch the symposium at his Office in St. John’s.

Plans are well underway for the Symposium which will be held in Antigua and Barbuda 15-17 July 2009. The three-day event is being organized by the CARICOM Secretariat in association with the government of Antigua and Barbuda, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID).

The Services Sector – which consists of sub-sectors including Tourism, Entertainment, Construction, Telecommunications and Financial Services - is the largest sector of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), accounting for two-thirds of the Community’s employment, output and exports. However, the regional regime for Services is still in its formative stage and work is underway to establish the facilitating legislative and policy frameworks at the national and regional levels to promote the sustainable growth of the sector.

The Symposium is aimed at sensitizing the key stakeholders in the sector on how to capitalize on the Region’s comparative advantage in the area of services for the further development of the Community. Other objectives are the development of a plan of action for the period 2009-2013/14 and providing concrete expression to the services component of the Single Economy Development Vision within the context of the Strategic Plan for Regional Development.

The elements of the draft strategic plan for services and the draft plan of action are to be presented to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and the Conference of the Heads of Government of CARICOM.

Participation in the Symposium will be drawn from industry specialists, owners and Chief Executive Officers of large, medium size and small firms operating in the sector, consumer representatives, internationally renowned services experts, senior members of the Academic Community in the Region, representatives of international organizations, and senior public sector officials.