Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National)
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE FCO DAILY BULLETIN: MONDAY 29 DECEMBER 1997
The Foreign Office issued the following press release:
CARIBBEAN FORUM, 12-13 FEBRUARY 1998
Robin Cook announced today that Britain and the Bahamas will jointly launch a UK/Caribbean Forum in Nassau on 12-13 February. Baroness Symons and George Foulkes, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Department for International Development, will attend the two-day conference, and the Foreign Secretary will chair the second day of talks.
Robin Cook sid:
"I am pleased that we have been able to follow up this initiative so soon after announcement at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October. The Forum will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss practical measures with our key partners in the region on how we can address a broad range of Caribbean issues. We also plan for the Private Sector to be present at the Forum. We are grateful to the Government of the Bahamas for offering to host this meeing."
Notes for Editors
1. The Forum was one of three UK/Caribbean initiatives announced by the Foreign Secretary at CHOGM. The other two were the creation of a Caribbean Inward Investment Bureau, and an informal advisory group, both of which will be established shortly.
2. The first day of the Forum will concentrate on talks between the UK (and the Caribbean Dependent Territories and Bermuda) and the Caribbean members of the Commonwealth. The second day will be opened up to wider participation by EU Member States and the European Commission, and the CARIFORUM Secretariat and its member countries. CARIFORUM comprises the Commonwealth Caribbean countries plus Haiti, Surinam and the Dominican Republic; and is the Caribbean's negotiation body with the European Commission on allocation of the European Development Fund.
