Obama, Caricom to meet

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other Caricom heads will be holding bilateral discussions with United States President Barack Obama tomorrow in Cartagena, Colombia.

Persad-Bissessar left for Colombia on Thursday accompanied by Government Ministers Suruj Rambachan, Stephen Cadiz and Kevin Ramnarine to attend the Sixth Summit of the Americas.

Yesterday, Persad-Bissessar signed the visitors book on her arrival to Colombia where 34 world leaders are carded to discuss hemispheric issues.

The Summit events kicks off today with an arrival ceremony and plenary sessions which is scheduled to run throughout the afternoon.

A grand dinner will be hosted for the leaders tonight. The summit sessions will continue tomorrow.

As a side meeting, Obama requested a meeting with Caricom heads. This meeting follows moves by Caricom to reinforce its relations with the Latin American region through its membership in CELAC, the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean.

The United States is the largest delegation at the Summit with some 700 persons accompanying President Obama.

The Summit is themed ‘Connecting the Americas; Partners for Prosperity’ and centres on the role of physical integration and regional cooperation as a means of achieving greater levels of development and overcoming regional challenges in several key areas including poverty and inequality, citizen security, disasters and access to technologies.

Persad-Bissessar’s first official engagement in Colombia will be the CEO Summit where she will join her colleague female leaders— Portia Simpson-Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica and Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica to discuss the topic ‘Education and Development.’

The Prime Minister is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the Guatemala President, Otto Pérez Molina, President of the US Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Donahue as well as US Congressman, Connie Mack.

Persad-Bissessar is scheduled to stop in Panama on her way home where she is carded to hold bilateral discussions with officials there.

She is expected to return to Trinidad next Wednesday.