PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – President Jennifer Greelings-Simons left here on Sunday to attend the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit in St. Kitts and Nevis, which begins in the twin-island Federation on Tuesday.
This will be her first summit since her election-coalition administration took office in July last year, making her the Dutch-speaking CARICOM country’s first female head of state.
Before her departure, she said the four-day summit is particularly important for Suriname, partly because Foreign Affairs Minister Melvin Bouva will assume the chairmanship of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) in May.
She said that the summit will address several important agenda items, including regional connectivity, strengthening trade, joint production, particularly in the agricultural sector, and the vulnerability of Caribbean countries to climate change.
“Those are the most important issues,” she said, adding that bilateral meetings will also take place.
“Bilateral talks always take place on the sidelines of these kinds of meetings. These often result in agreements that are important for the countries,” President Greelings- Simons said, noting that Suriname, as an integral part of CARICOM, benefits from good coordination within the region.
“We will have to determine together how we will proceed in a world that is changing rapidly in various areas,” she added.
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