President Dr Irfaan Ali is leading a delegation to Los Angeles, California, USA, to attend the ninth Summit of the Americas, which is slated for this week.
The event is being held under the theme “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future”.
The Head of State will be accompanied by First Lady Arya Ali, – Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, Foreign Secretary Mr Robert Persaud and Ambassador George Talbot.
Through the summit, leaders from the United States, North, Central and South America and the Caribbean are expected to explore economic relationships and common goals for the Western Hemisphere. Discussions are forecasted to cover topics such as democracy, clean energy, digital transformation, climate change, migration, recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, building resilience, and boosting economic growth. A number of initiatives are expected to be launched in some of these areas.
Over the years, the summits have focused on critical cooperation in the Americas. This has allowed countries to work together to promote democracy and human rights, increase economic competitiveness, promote development, improve access to clean energy and communication technology, strengthen regional security, and counter illicit trafficking.
In the eighth summit, leaders had committed to fighting the corruption that undermines democratic governance when they met in Lima, Peru, in 2018.
The United States is hosting for the first time since the summit began in Miami in 1994 with President Bill Clinton.
A packed schedule of events is carded for the week, including plenary and roundtable discussions.
