(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A Special Meeting of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) will be held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 18 September 2008, to discuss Tourism and Transportation/Civil Aviation.

The Twenty-Eighth Special COTED will be convened to fulfill a mandate given by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to develop recommendations on a Regional Tourism Marketing Campaign. The recommendations are to include a budget, method of funding and a timeline for implementation.

At the Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Antigua and Barbuda in July 2008, the Heads of Government also mandated that a Special Meeting of the COTED be convened to address the implementation of decisions taken and the outstanding matters relating to Tourism and Regional and International Transportation.

The establishment of a CARICOM Ministerial Organ for Tourism, the promotion and development of airline hubs, and possibilities for a Single Air Space, are among the issues that are to be discussed.

The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by a preparatory meeting of officials on 16 September 2008.