President Bharrat Jagdeo is to lead the government’s delegation to the national consultation on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), when the sessions are held at the International Convention Centre today and tomorrow.

International and local personalities drawn from the world of trade, economics, and academia among others would make presentations, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said at his post-cabinet media briefing yesterday.

He said that a special conference involving the Caribbean Community (Cari-com) leaders would likely follow Guyana’s consultation as a prelude to the possible signing of the EPA.

The EPA, a trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Cariforum (Caricom nations plus the Dominican Republic) was to have been signed on Tuesday in Barbados but was postponed. Guyana and a few other Caricom countries including St Lucia and prominent regional academics have raised concerns about the EPA and its implications for the region. Luncheon said that several matters which would be raised would be discussed at the Heads of Government meeting and stated that a decision that both sides can live with, at this point, is the best that can be hoped for.