Appointment of Representative of the Government of Japan to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

September 12, 2006

At its Cabinet Meeting on September 12, the Government of Japan decided to appoint Mr. Koichiro Seki, Japanese Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, as the first representative of the Government of Japan to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
CARICOM was established as a regional organization in August 1973 in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, with a view to promoting regional cooperation in such matters as economic integration, foreign policy coordination, health care, and education. It has now 14 Caribbean countries as members. CARICOM has been making moves to strengthen regional economic integration by, for example, establishing a CARICOM single market (CSM) in January 2006. Member states have also taken up shared positions in the international arena, raising the importance in the international community through the more powerful voice CARICOM provides.
Japan has been keeping up policy dialogues with CARICOM through the first Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo in November 2000 and the Japan-CARICOM Consultations that have been held almost every year since 1993.
Japan has therefore decided to appoint Ambassador Koichiro Seki as the representative of the Government of Japan to CARICOM. It is expected that this appointment will bring about even closer relations between Japan and CARICOM.

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