(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Energy were on Friday confident of approval of the Regional Energy Policy which has been on the table for the past ten years.

The Policy’s imminent approval by the Ministers was a reference point of the speakers at the Opening Ceremony of the Forty-First Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Energy held at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Policy is a key agenda item of the one-day Meeting.

Chair of the Meeting, the Honourable Rayburn Blackmoore, Minister of Public Works, Energy and Ports, Dominica, in welcoming delegates, commended the efforts undertaken to craft and revise the policy and said the time was ripe for Member States to demonstrate political will to bring it to fruition. It was time to “walk the talk”, he said.

In her remarks at the Opening Ceremony, Officer in Charge of the Directorate of Trade and Economic Integration, Ms. Desiree Field-Ridley pointed out that energy was fundamental to the Community’s economic survival and prosperity and was a challenging issue in CARICOM.

“…it is past time for final approval of the Regional Energy Policy, and how more fitting could it be, than for that to happen here at this Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, the Member State which has lead responsibility for energy in CARICOM’s Quasi Cabinet,” she said.

For host, Senator the Honourable Kevin Ramnarine, Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs, the fact that ten Ministers were at the Special Meeting was evidence of the Community’s commitment to navigate energy issues in uncertain times.

The Energy Policy, mandated by the CARICOM Heads of Government, aims primarily to provide sustainable and secure supplies of energy that are accessible to all CARICOM citizens; optimize domestic production of energy in an environmentally sound manner; and facilitate the growth of internationally competitive regional industries.