The 51st Regular Meeting of Heads of Government of CARICOM concluded today with a press conference featuring leaders of various Caribbean countries. The summit was hosted in St. Lucia and the conference was led by their Prime Minister, and the chair of CARICOM, Philip Pierre.
Pierre noted some of the discussions that the heads of government had, including an interregional ferry, rising cost of living, responsible AI usage, and welcoming French Guiana as an associate member. Here is a snippet of the speech he gave:
Philip Pierre, Prime Minister of St. Lucia / Chair of CARICOM
"We agreed to strengthen regional cooperation to protect consumers, improve affordability, and explore additional measures that can provide relief to vulnerable members. We also agreed to strengthen consumer protection and work together to address rising prices across the community. We made further progress towards the free movement of CARICOM nationals while additional member states advance into its full participation. We also accelerated a law towards establishing an affordable interregional ferry service that will improve travel, facilitate trade, strengthen food security, and make our community more connected. On food security and economic resilience, we reaffirm our commitment to the Vision 2025 by 2025 + 5 initiative to reduce the region's food import bill and strengthen agriculture production. Recognizing that technology will shape our future, we also agreed to establish a regional blue ribbon commission on artificial intelligence to guide the development of policies that will enable the Caribbean to benefit from AI while responsibly managing its risks. We reaffirm our commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and for advocating for the special circumstances for small island developing states. We also agreed to advance a regional insurance strategy to better protect our people, infrastructure, and economy against hurricanes and other natural disasters."
"We also welcome French Guiana as CARICOM's newest associate member following the recent ascension of Martinique."
