In news– External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently co-chaired the 4th India-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ministerial meeting with his Jamaican counterpart Kaminaj Smith in Guyana’s capital of Georgetown.
About CARICOM-
- CARICOM is an intergovernmental organisation that is a political and economic union of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members throughout the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean.
- They have primary objectives to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and coordinate foreign policy.
- It was established in 1973, with its four founding members signing the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
- Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed on 4 July 1973 in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago.
- It was signed by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
- It came into effect on 1 August 1973. The treaty established the regional institution while replacing the Caribbean Free Trade Association which ceased to exist on 1 May 1974.
- The revised treaty, signed in 2001, created the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
- The secretariat headquarters of CARICOM is in Georgetown, Guyana.
- CARICOM is an official United Nations Observer beneficiary.
Source: The Hindu
