CARICOM Secretary General Mr Edwin Carrington says he is "very pleased that Caribbean Heads of Government have turned out in such large numbers" at the first Summit of Heads of Government of the Group of 77, also known as the G77, which ends in Havana, Cuba, today.

The Conference, the first of its kind since the establishment of the G77 in 1964, opened on the 12 April, 2000, with an inaugural ceremony at the Palace of Conventions, and was addressed by UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan, Cuba's President, Fidel Castro and the President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the Chairman of the G77.

"That all of this is taking place in the Caribbean is an even greater source of pride," Mr Carrington added.

He said he was "very pleased with the level of attendance by CARICOM Heads of Government, particularly as what they have had to say to the Conference has been so relevant to the restructuring of the world economic order to the benefit of our small countries."

The Summit was attended by CARICOM Heads of State and Government from Guyana, Haiti, Suriname, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

Other CARICOM Member States represented at the ministerial level, include Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Also present at the historic Summit are the Secretary-General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Dr Norman Girvan, and the two top members of the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) Sir Shridath Ramphal and Sir Allister Mc Intyre.

The leaders of Barbados, Belize, Guyana Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago addressed the Conference, while others presented their papers as official conference documents.

The Presidents of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela also addressed the Summit, which ended on the evening of April 14 with closing addresses by host President Fidel Castro and G-77 Chairman Obasanjo.

The Summit was attended by 61 Heads of State and senior representatives of the 133 Member States of the grouping of developing countries.