Bahamas Prime Minister Philip E. Davis is now officially the new chairman of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for the next six months. This was announced by CARICOM in an article published in CARICOM Today on Sunday, Jan. 1.
Prime Minister Davis replaces Suriname’s President Chandrika Persad Santokhi as Chairman of the intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union and of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean with primary objectives to promote economic integration and collaboration among member, make sure the benefits of integration are equally and fairly shared, and coordinate foreign policy efforts.
Established in 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas in Trinidad and Tobago, CARICOM’S four founding members were Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
Currently, there are a total of 15 member nations and dependencies. Countries that are part of CARICOM, including the four founding members, include Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti and Suriname.
Associates members Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos. In addition, there are eight observers: Aruba, Colombia, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten and Venezuela.
