Saint Lucia will host the twenty-fifth meeting of the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM on March 21 – 22.

The Government of Saint Lucia currently occupies the Chair of CARIFORUM and is therefore responsible for chairing meetings of the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM and Meetings of CARIFORUM attended by Heads of State and Government, as well as any other ministerial meetings.

A number of developments/issues requiring urgent attention are scheduled to be discussed at these meetings which include: BREXIT; Post-Cotonou Negotiations; CARIFORUM/FCOR/OCT Relations; and the Implementation of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement.

The Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), was established to manage and coordinate relations between the Caribbean States which are signatory to the Lomé (New Cotonou) Convention. Its remit includes programming and managing implementation of regional resources made available to the Caribbean region by the European Union (EU) through the European Development Fund (EDF).  Its remit also includes coordinating the implementation of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), managing CARIFORUM-EU Political Dialogue and promoting Intra-CARIFORUM Cooperation. The Council of Ministers is usually convened twice yearly: a Special Meeting and an Annual Meeting.

The twenty-fifth meeting of the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM will be held at the Hilton Harbor Club in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia. For further information contact Mrs. Lisa Louis Philip, EPA Coordinator, International Trade Unit at 468-4573/285-7978 or email lisa.philip@govt.lc.