World Bank President Robert Zoellick is expected to meet Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) today in Dominica to discuss several issues.

According to a release from the World Bank Group, Zoellick is expected to travel to Dominica to meet the Caricom heads today to discuss the impact of the global economic crisis on the region, climate change and other key developmental issues.

According to the release, Zoellick said Caricom countries have been severely hit by the global economic crisis and while the worst of the crisis may behind us, he stated that 2010 may be a challenging year, with a slow and uneven global recovery.

Zoellick stated that the international organization is committed to assisting Caribbean countries address the unique challenges which the small islands face and he expressed appreciation to Dominica for hosting today’s meeting, stating that he looks forward to a fruitful discussion to devise ways in supporting Caricom countries.

The release stated that this week’s meeting in Dominica will take place during  the 21st  Inter-Session Meeting of the conference of Heads of Government of Caricom and the meeting also follow a previous meeting between Zoellick and  Caricom countries held in Istanbul, Turkey  in October last year which was held during  the World Bank’s  annual meetings.

The World Bank’s current portfolio within Caricom countries includes 45 operations which focus on economic policy, urban development as well as education among other areas which fall under a total budget of $733.7M. Additionally, the financial institution manages over 70 active Trust Funds for an equivalent sum of $89.6M in grants.

In addition, the Caribbean portfolio of the institution also includes six regional projects which support public sector modernization, tele-communications, catastrophe risk insurance and disaster risk management, HIV/AIDS prevention and control, conservation of biodiversity and managing the impacts of climate change.

The release stated that the International Finance Cor-poration (IFC), which is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has ramped up investment and advisory operations in the Caribbean over the past three years, which came with the support of donors and which, the release stated, is consistent with the government’s priorities aimed at ensuring this approach assists in addressing the challenges faced by the region.

Since July 2008, the IFC has invested more than $133M and more than double the number of projects undertaken to 21 in the Caricom region, including investments and advisory services. Additionally, the release stated that the IFC board of directors recently approved $35M in emergency finance intended to support private companies in Haiti to restart operations and create jobs in the wake of the devastating earthquake which struck the country in January.

According to the release, the World Bank Group is centrally involved within Caricom member states, providing funding to work programmes in various sectors including telecommunications, aviation as well as HIV/AIDS projects. In Guyana the organization has funded several programs including the Education for All/Fast Track Initiative ($12.2M) which aims to achieve universal primary education for all children by 2015.The Bank is also supporting the Conservancy Adaptation Project ($3.8B), which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of Guyana to catastrophic flooding in low-lying coastal areas which are threatened by sea level rise.