STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER HONOURABLE ALLEN MICHAEL CHASTANET ON THE MARCH 22 MEETING WITH US PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

“As many will know, I recently returned from a trip to Miami where I had the opportunity to meet with the President of the United States of America along with four other CARICOM colleagues. As you know, we did not attend the meeting on behalf of CARICOM, but rather, we responded to an individual invitation.

“Saint Lucia is always looking to strengthen our relationships with long standing allies such as the United States. The President and his team were very much in listening mode as to how they may strengthen the relationship with the region. Ultimately we had a very promising meeting, and I am excited about the discussions we had in the areas of energy, investment and trade and security. I am looking forward to outcomes of our discussion and will keep the public updated as things begin to unfold.”

ON VENEZUELA

“I reiterated the known Saint Lucia position that we see free and fair elections in that country as a priority.”

ON CHINA

“This was not an issue as we are not currently engaged in a diplomatic relationship with China but instead with Taiwan.”

ON SECURITY

“We had broad discussions around the need for there to be a regional approach to addressing security issues, but on a bilateral basis in assisting Saint Lucia in strengthening its own border control and accessing equipment to maintain that.”

ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT

“We discussed the need for access to capital and a trade focused agenda that protects initiatives such as CBERA. CBERA is coming to an end this year and we had very good discussions with the President on being able to extend the life of CBERA as well as revisiting the old Caribbean Basin Initiative and try to develop a more modern and appropriate measure.”

ON RESILIENCE

“We broadly discussed opportunities for the support of our national and regional disaster agencies, such as CDEMA, and fact that building resilience to natural disasters is a shared subject.”