NEW GLOBAL REALITIES DEMAND NEW CARICOM TRADE POLICY GROS-ISLET, SAINT LUCIA – While Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Countries are committed to and are active participants in international trade negotiations, some uncertainty has emerged amongst Member States concerning the benefits to be derived and costs entailed. There is also mounting concern over the scope and pace of the adjustment process, which would result from the conclusion of any or all of these negotiations. These were the sentiments of Jamaican Prime Minister Most Hon. P.J.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) An assessment of the progress made to date in the implementation of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS, specifically as it relates to such projects as the Global Fund, World Bank and CIDA will come under the microscope in Saint Lucia this week.

Shaneek Amoy Frank, a 12th grade student of William Knibb Memorial High School, Jamaica will be among her country's delegates at the upcoming Eighteenth General Assembly and Technical Conference of the Caribbean Organisation of Tax Administrators (COTA) in The Bahamas from 26-29 July, 2004.

Barbados:

CBC Radio, Barbados, has a long history of collaborative relationships with broadcast entities in the Caribbean Community on development and integration issues.

Since the early 1970s, with the advent of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, we have provided personnel and financial resources for regional broadcasters to travel for coverage of culture and aspirations of peoples throughout the Region. Indeed, over time, we have become a part of the very essence of the Caribbean Community; fulfilling our role in building an informed and educated society.

The Ninth Special Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community was held in Castries, Saint Lucia, on 13-14 November 2003. The Most Hon P.J. Patterson, ON, Prime Minister of Jamaica and current Chairman of the Conference presided over the Meeting.