(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) On February 22-23, 2007, Ministers of Trade of the following Central American countries - Republics of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama - and the countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met in Belize City to discuss bilateral trade relations among their countries and their experiences in international trade negotiations, including in the multilateral trade forum.

During two days of intense and productive discussions, the Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to deepen relations among their countries in an effort to generate new trade and development opportunities.

In this regard, they agreed to initiate, during 2007, negotiations to formalize trade relations among their countries.

To that end, they agreed to use the current CARICOM-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement which provides for accession by other countries of the two sub-regions and is seen as the most appropriate tool for achieving the early realization of enhanced trade relations among the participating countries.

The Meeting of Trade Ministers was preceded by a Meeting among Ministers of Foreign Affairs of CARICOM and Central America at which a Plan of Action for cooperation between the two regions was signed.

BELIZE CITY