Regional foreign ministers urged to adopt new paradigm to global environment

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC –Caribbean Community (CARICOM) foreign ministers Tuesday began two days of discussions here amidst calls for the region to adopt a new paradigm in dealing with a changing global environment. “It is therefore critical that our diplomatic encounters must be able to advance and expand our own political and economic space and we must do so starting right here in the Caribbean,” said the incoming Chairman of the CARICOM Council for Foreign and Community Affairs (COFCOR), Winston Dookeran. Dookeran, who is also Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister, told the opening ceremony of the conference on Monday night that one of the main issues to be discussed at the ministerial retreat is a new frontier for Caribbean convergence, bearing in mind the need to be ever mindful of “our commitment to the development of our peoples and of our region.