Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is scheduled to leave for Washington, DC, United States, on Sunday to attend the first ever Caribbean Energy Security Summit hosted by US vice-president Joe Biden.
The summit will include remarks by Biden, an energy security roundtable with heads of government, and meetings and events with government officials, representatives from the private sector and officials from multilateral institutions, a statement issued by the White House said.
It said the meeting is a key component of the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative that Biden announced last June, and will be hosted by the White House and the State Department in partnership with the Atlantic Council and the Council of the Americas.
The statement said Biden looked forward to welcoming Caribbean leaders and representatives of the international community to promote a cleaner and more sustainable energy future in the Caribbean through improved energy governance, greater access to finance, and donor co-ordination.
The Prime Minister’s overseas trip was announced by press secretary Francis Joseph at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
Joseph said Persad-Bissessar would also travel to Costa Rica for the third summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on January 28-29.
The meeting is expected to be attended by 33 heads of state and governments of member countries of the regional bloc, which was established in Caracas, Venezuela, almost four years ago.
Joseph did not say who will be acting as prime minister during Persad-Bissessar’s absence from the country.