Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar will head for the United States on Monday for a three-day official visit which will feature bilateral discussions with Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said she would leave the twin-island republic on Monday and meet with Clinton two days later.
“While the meeting’s agenda is open, the Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State are expected to discuss major economic, social and political issues affecting the Western Hemisphere as well as have in-depth bilateral discussions about the issues directly dealing with US/Trinidad and Tobago/CARICOM relations,” it said.
The primary focus of those relations will be on the state of the global and regional economy and the impact of the global financial crisis on developing countries; trade relations; the energy industry; national and regional diversification efforts; the narco trade; border protection and other security issues; Haiti; and the possibility of increased humanitarian aid to CARICOM in light of the recent natural disasters to hit the region. During their talks Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar is also expected to update Clinton on the new initiatives taken by her People’s Partnership Government in its first five months in office to promote economic and social growth and development for not only Trinidad and Tobago, but the entire CARICOM region.
Among those are the Children’s Life Fund, established to assist in meeting the cost of life-saving specialist medical treatment and surgery for children, and the Helping Hand project which was announced late last week as the Trinidadian leader explained how her country would help those countries severely affected by Hurricane Tomas last weekend.
Before meeting with the US Secretary of State, the Prime Minister will on Monday receive a 2010 Women of the Year award from the US-Based Glamour Magazine, which is honouring five of the top female global leaders from developing countries “in recognition of their pioneering successes in their countries that have significantly contributed to the global empowerment of women and girls”.
Persad-Bissessar will receive the award alongside Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Croatia’s Prime Minister Jadranka Cosor; Slovakia’s Prime Minister Iveta Radicova; and Lithuania’s President, Dalia Grybauskaite.
On Tuesday, she will deliver a lecture to at a symposium at the prestigious Ivy League Harvard University’s Faculty Law School on the theme of Leadership and Cooperation. That is scheduled to take place on Tuesday and it is being held under the sponsorship of the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard International Negotiation Program. That same day, Persad-Bissessar is also scheduled to hold an official meeting with the US Permanent Representative of the United Nations, Susan Rice.
The Prime Minister is being accompanied on this trip by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan. Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran will act as Prime Minister until she returns on Thursday. (CMC)
