Secretary-General on Caribbean tour – visits Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon is in Kingston, Jamaica, for a three-day visit as part of a regional tour of five Commonwealth Caribbean states. During his tour from 7-14 February 2007, Mr McKinnon will also visit Barbados, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.

He will hold talks with Heads of Government and brief them on preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2007.

Economic and trade issues such as the impact of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, the Doha Round of global trade talks and mitigating the loss of the European Union’s trade preferences will be on the agenda. The vulnerabilities of small states and the effects of climate change will also feature in the talks.

Mr McKinnon is expected to discuss the Commonwealth’s work to support the strengthening of democratisation initiatives, as well as the Commonwealth’s aid for trade and youth development programmes in the region.

While in Jamaica, the Secretary-General will deliver a major speech on the Caribbean in the Commonwealth at the University of West Indies, Mona campus on 8 February.

The Secretary-General’s tour of the Caribbean will coincide with the Intersessional Meeting of the Caribbean Community Heads of Government Meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines from 12-14 February.

Note to Editors

The Secretary-General will be in Jamaica from 7-9 February; Barbados from 9-11 February; Dominica from 11-12 February; St Vincent and the Grenadines from 12-13 February; and Grenada from 13-14 February.

For media enquiries, contact Geraldine Goh, Communications Adviser, Communications and Public Affairs Division at tel: +44-7730-900-020 or via e-mail at g.goh@commonwealth.int.

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