Saint Lucia is currently hosting the twenty-fifth meeting of the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM.

The meeting convened yesterday, March 21, and will be adjourned today, March 22. Issues to be discussed at the meetings include: BREXIT; Post-Cotonou Negotiations; CARIFORUM/FCOR/OCT Relations; and the Implementation of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement.

The signing ceremony of the CARIFORUM-United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement will be held on today, March 22, from 9 to 9:30 a.m. at the Hilton Harbor Club. A press conference will follow the adjournment of the Ministerial Meeting at 1 p.m., where the outcome of the 25th Ministerial Meeting will be discussed.

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.