( L - R ) PATTERSON, MANNING AND ARTHUR
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC:
PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning left yesterday for Barbados where he will hold talks with his counterparts from the host country and Jamaica, according to an official statement issued here.
It said that Manning would meet with Prime Minister Owen Arthur and Jamaica's P.J. Patterson on issues, including the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Venezuelan oil initiative PetroCaribe and the supply of liquefied natural gas to Jamaica.
PETROCARIBE INITIATIVE
Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago are the only two Caribbean states that have not signed the PetroCaribe initiative under which Caracas would provide oil at concessionary terms to the Caribbean.
As part of the agreement, a fund has also been established for social and economic programmes, with Caracas making an initial contribution of US$50 million, while additional contributions will flow through savings from direct trade or contributions from the financed portion of oil purchases.
The Caribbean countries will also be allowed to defer payments for 30 per cent of their imports for 15 years at an interest rate of two per cent per year, and if oil goes above US$50 per barrel, the interest rate will fall to one per cent per year, with payment for 40 per cent of the imports being spread over 25 years.
The statement said that the supply of liquefied natural gas to Jamaica is "being discussed in the context of the establishment of an aluminium smelter in Trinidad and Tobago".
