New CARICOM SG to assume office on Aug. 15

New Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Irwin LaRocque will assume duties on August 15th.

“Ambassador LaRocque assumes office as the Community’s seventh Secretary-General, with the full confidence and support of the Conference of Heads of Government and the best wishes of the entire Com-munity,” Dr. Denzil Douglas, Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM and Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, announced in a statement yesterday released by the CARICOM Secretariat.

Irwin LaRocque

Ambassador LaRocque, 56, a national of Dominica, replaces Sir Edwin Carrington of Trinidad and Tobago. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary-General, he served as Permanent Secretary in various ministries in Dominica for more than 14 years, including in the ministries of Trade, Industry, Enterprise Development, Tourism, and Foreign Affairs, where he headed the diplomatic service.

He also served as the principal advisor to the Government of Dominica on all matters pertaining to economic integration and regional and international trade.

LaRocque was Dominica’s senior policy adviser on the revision of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas and served on the CARICOM Inter-Governmental Task Force which drafted the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.