A Foreign Ministerial delegation representing The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States will journey to Washington next week for the first face-to-face contact with the new US Secretary of State, retired General Colin Powell.

The future of CARICOM-USA Relations is expected to feature prominently in the deliberations when the two sides meet. This is in addition to the vexing issue of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation in Development (OECD) Harmful Tax Competition Policy.

Among the other critical issues to engage the CARICOM Foreign Ministerial team's discussions with the US Secretary Of State are the Summit of the Americas/FTAA Process of Small States/Economies and arrangements for the next US Secretary of State/CARICOM Foreign Ministers Meeting under the Bridgetown Accord.

Trinidad and Tobago's new Minister of Enterprise Development, Foreign Affairs and Tourism, who is also the current Chairman of the Community Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), Hon. Mervyn Assam, will lead the CARICOM delegation. Other likely members of the team are Barbados' Foreign Minister, Hon. Billie Miller; Jamaica's Foreign Minister, Dr. the Hon. Paul Robertson; The Bahamas' Foreign Minister, Hon. Janet Bostwick and Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Business Development, Hon. Hilroy Humphries.

CARICOM Secretary-General, Mr. Edwin W. Carrington and the Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, will accompany the Community's delegation.