Dominican National Appointed CARIFORUM Director General

GEORGETOWN, Guyana CMC – Dominican Percival Marie, Thursday, took up the appointment of Director General of the Caribbean Forum of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (CARIFORUM) pledging to effect an integrated and comprehensive approach to the work of the two units that comprise the directorate.

Marie, who formally served as the executive director of CARIFORUM Directorate, replaces Ivan Ogando Lora. His appointment, approved at the recently held special meeting of the Council of Ministers of CARIFORUM in the Dominican Republic, is for a three year period.

He said the new working strategy is intended to make the respective units even more responsive to the needs of regional states and comes at a time when the region is adapting to changing realities in respect of ACP/European Union (EU) and CARIFORUM/EU relations, including the landmark Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

The Director-General of CARIFORUM reports to the Secretary-General of CARIFORUM, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque who is also the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

A CARIFORUM statement said that the directorate is in the midst of a transition and apart from Marie, Barbadian Carlos Wharton will take up the post of Director, EPA Implementation and Director, Development Cooperation, with Eugene Petty, a national of St. Kitts and Nevis, taking up the post of Director, Development Cooperation on August 12.

CARIFORUM includes the 15-member CARICOM grouping and the Dominican Republic.