PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be among high level officials invited to attend the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) taking place in Trinidad this week.

A statement on the US State Department’s website said Blinken will be in the island on July 5 to “participate in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government meeting and the 50th anniversary of Caricom celebration”.

While here he is expected to “engage on pressing issues in the region with the represented heads of governments, including Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, and incoming Caricom Chair and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit”.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres is also expected to attend and address the august body, reiterating the UN’s “commitment to call for more ambitious action” in the areas of climate crisis and the restructuring of the international financial system for the benefit of small developing economies such as those of the Caricom states.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, is also expected to attend and to engage leaders on their perspectives on collaboration “on strategies to provide more tailored and practical assistance to the region”, a statement from the Commonwealth Secretariat said.

Twelve of the 15 Caricom member states are also members of Commonwealth and the Secretary General plans to “reaffirm the Commonwealth’s unwavering commitment to championing the concerns and interests of small states on the global stage, with a focus on urgent climate action and advocating for a new global financing system that addresses the needs of the small and vulnerable”, the statement added.

Caricom Day is July 4 and this 50th anniversary would be observed across member states with a national holiday.