Mr. Chairman,
Honourable Heads of Government,
Honourable Ministers,
Secretary General of the Caribbean Community,
Distinguished Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives to the OAS,
Representatives of multilateral institutions,
Distinguished members of the diaspora,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are pleased and honored to host this closing ceremony and to have had the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community at the Organization of American States, in the beautiful surroundings of the Hall of the Americas, right next to the Hall of Heroes. At the moment, there is only one bust of a Caribbean National Hero in the Hall of Heroes, that of the legendary Marcus Garvey, but I hope that will change in the future to reflect many more of the heroes of the Caribbean in the OAS.

I do not recall any other occasion in the recent history of this Organization that we had so many Heads of State and Heads of Government together in this historic Hall of the Americas.

We at the OAS have supported this Conference on the Caribbean out of the conviction that fostering friendly and strong relationships among our Member States is part and parcel of our overall objective to create a peaceful environment and sustainable economies in the Americas.

Your views presented over the past few days on a Caribbean vision and strategic agenda will not only benefit United States policy makers, but in many ways will guide also the work of the multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Pan American Health Organization, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and the OAS, among many others, in terms of how to expand existing initiatives and to develop new ones to address the challenges the Caribbean Community is facing.

We have listened with interest and taken good note of the priorities set out for the region. Clearly, the priorities and initiatives CARICOM leaders have identified should be the principal marching orders for the international community on how to engage with the governments and people of CARICOM. It is significant to recognize that these new initiatives between the Caribbean and the United States, and the important push to directly engage the Caribbean diaspora in the United States is occurring during the second annual celebration of Caribbean-American Heritage month.

The OAS leadership recognizes the importance of the Caribbean in the hemispheric body, not only because CARICOM Member States represent almost half of the membership, but also because of the meaningful contribution the sub-region can continue to make towards peace, democracy, governance and integration to the benefit of all the members of this Organization.

Your already strong political commitment to the OAS needs to be translated into wider hemispheric engagement so that the valuable experiences of the Caribbean can be applied wherever needed.

The OAS remains committed to the Caribbean Community’s efforts to build economies that can better withstand external shocks and, in this regard, the OAS fully supports the principle of special and differential treatment in its programs for small vulnerable economies.

We are also totally committed to working with the CARICOM Ambassadorial Caucus on the follow-up activities arising from the encounters of the last few days, and I expect that that work will start almost as soon as this Conference ends.

Finally, let me congratulate all of the individuals who worked so hard for many months to make this conference a reality and actualize the vision and goals put forward by heads of government. These include the Caricom Secretariat, sponsoring organizations – World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, the OAS and many others. I would particularly like to recognize the Caricom Caucus of Ambassadors for their Herculean efforts in the organization and coordination of this important event.

I now take great pleasure in inviting you to join us at the reception following this closing, which is offered by the leadership of the Organization of American States and the World Bank.

I thank you for your attendance, your attention and your commitment to the future of our Caribbean region.