On Tuesday, 28th March, 2023, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines chaired its first National Coordinators Meeting virtually at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

The meeting was successfully chaired by His Excellency, Dr. Douglas Slater with the support of his staff from the CELAC Secretariat.

His Excellency Gustavo Martinez Pandiani, Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Argentine Republic, and National Coordinator of the Argentine Republic, the immediate past Pro Tempore President of CELAC was present at the meeting, signaling the full support and solidarity of the Argentine Republic and the membership of CELAC with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ as Chair of the Community.

The Meeting of National Coordinators convenes in the country holding the Pro-Tempore Presidency, unless States agree otherwise. These meetings coordinate dialogue and political consensus at the national level, facilitate regional integration, monitor cooperation on projects within the organization, organise, coordinate and observe working groups, function as the preparatory body for the meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and report the findings of working groups to the Ministers.

National Coordinators serve as a link between Member States and the Pro-Tempore Secretariat by coordinating and directly monitoring topics under discussion, and meet twice yearly before the Meeting of Foreign Ministers. Each country is assigned one National Coordinator and one Alternate or Deputy National Coordinator.

The first National Coordinators Meeting recorded participation from twenty-two Member States of CELAC, where a comprehensive work plan to guide the activities and initiatives for the year was presented by His Excellency Andreas Wickham, Deputy National Coordinator of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to CELAC and deliberated by the CELAC membership.

The agenda of the National Coordinators’ meeting also included a briefing to the CELAC Membership by His Excellency, Dr. Douglas Slater on the upcoming CELAC- EU Summit which is scheduled to convene in Brussels on July 17-18, 2023. This is the first CELAC-EU Summit within five years and will be co-chaired by Dr. The Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves in his capacity as the Pro-Tempore President of CELAC and His Excellency Charles Michel, the President of European Council.

SOURCE: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade