SALUTATIONS
I bring you greetings on behalf of my Chairman, Dr Yitades Gebre who could not be here today at this important meeting and sends his regrets.
The Third Annual General Meeting of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) was held in Georgetown, Guyana on 12-13 November 2003, under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Health, Republic of Guyana, assisted by Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Ms. Dolores Balderamas Garcia, Ambassador/Chairperson National AIDS Commission, Belize.
OPENING CEREMONY
The Opening Ceremony was chaired by Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.
Dear Participants of the Third Annual PANCAP Meeting,
First of all, I wish to express my best wishes and solidarity with you in your continuing leadership in the response to AIDS. I am sorry not to be able to be with you in person.
I send you all very fond greetings and best wishes on the occasion of the 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS. PANCAP as it is affectionately known, is a very special mechanism endorsed by the Heads of Government of CARICOM as a pillar of the Nassau Declaration which emphasised that the “health of the region is the wealth of the Region".
CARICOM Heads of Government will be meeting in Castries, Saint Lucia, on the 13-14 November 2003, at their Ninth Special Meeting, to deliberate on issues arising from the Twenty-Fourth Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, held in Jamaica in July of this year.
The Meeting is being viewed as an opportunity for taking stock of the progress made on the issues discussed at the last Conference and for giving fillip and direction to the work to facilitate the earliest possible conclusion.
The meeting involving the Government of Montserrat, the Caribbean Community Secretariat and United Kingdom Government representatives ended in Montserrat today reaffirming their commitment to Montserrat's continued participation in CARICOM and its organs.
The two-day talks were undertaken in a spirit of friendship with all agreeing to move forward together in harmony to accomplish the objective of ensuring Montserrat's continued full membership in CARICOM.
(Presented by Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General,
Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat)
It was with profound sadness that the Caribbean Community learnt of the passing of the Honourable George Odlum, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Saint Lucia, on Sunday, 28 September 2003.
Export of sugar to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago was the subject of separate and successful bilateral discussions between Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of Guyana Clement Rohee and his counterparts from the two sister CARICOM countries, K.D Knight of Jamaica and Kenneth Valley of Trinidad and Tobago. These discussions took place during the just concluded Special meeting of the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which took place in Georgetown, Guyana, 1-4 September 2003.