MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Smith
I will leave Australia today to attend the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 November.
The meeting will prepare the ground for the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which the Prime Minister will attend with other Commonwealth leaders.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth. Australia looks to the meeting to reaffirm the Commonwealth's core values and principles and to ways the Commonwealth can be strengthened in the future.
The focus of my discussions with Foreign Ministers will be the challenges facing the Commonwealth and the wider international community, including climate change, the global economy and development assistance.
CHOGM will be the last major gathering of international leaders and Foreign Ministers before the climate change conference in Copenhagen. With leaders of 53 nations, representing two billion people, the meeting will be an important opportunity to build support for a successful outcome on climate change.
While in Trinidad and Tobago, I will also undertake bilateral meetings with my counterparts.
This is also an important opportunity to strengthen Australia's relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with whose Foreign Ministers I will formally meet.
This will be the first formal meeting between CARICOM and Australian Foreign Ministers.
12 of the 15 CARICOM countries are members of the Commonwealth.
As part of Australia's enhanced engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean, I will also visit Cuba on Monday 23 November en route to Trinidad and Tobago.
This will be the first visit to Cuba by an Australian Foreign Minister since 1995. I met my counterpart, Foreign Minister Rodriguez, in the margins of the UN General Assembly in September this year.
Cuba is an active participant in international organisations and an influential country in its region.
It also contributes to development assistance in our region, providing medical assistance and training to Pacific Island countries and East Timor.
Mr Rodriguez and I will discuss regional issues and ways to build our bilateral relationship and strengthen cooperation.