The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis will be the venue of the 6th Summit of Heads of State and/or Government of the member states of Petrocaribe. The meeting will be held on June 11-12.

The organization’s member states are expected to attend en masse. In addition, the countries which have expressed their interest in approaching the supportive energy cooperation facility, such as Costa Rica and El Salvador, will act as observers.

This will be the first summit of the organization in an Eastern Caribbean country, an especially significant event for the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

During the first session, on Thursday, June 11, the meeting of the Ministerial Council will be held. On Friday 12, the presidents will hold talks.

The work agenda covers multiple interesting items, such as follow-up of the infrastructure projects undertaken in several countries in order to optimize the logistics related to hydrocarbons supply; consolidation of mixed companies organized for the purposes of implementing investment, infrastructure, exchange and endogenous development projects; execution of the exchange and offset system of the oil bill, and joint development of new plans in the food and agriculture area under the facility of Alba Alimentos, resulting from the 5th (Extraordinary) Summit held in Maracaibo, Zulia state.

The delegations will also track seven taskforces that were established as instructed by the Ministerial Council during the 3rd Summit held in Cienfuegos, Cuba, in December 2007. The taskforces are responsible for the implementation of projects in the areas of energy savings and efficient use; renewable energy sources; petrochemicals; gas supply; education and training; the creation of a check and audit mechanism, and the implementation of a communications plan. Also, the progress made by the group which is working on an initiative for fair trade, which was organized during the 5th Summit, will be pondered.

The supportive cooperation facility, Petrocaribe, seeks to break with traditional cooperation mechanisms, by fostering the leading, active involvement of peoples in the construction of their own reality and preventing dependence of the recipient country on the aiding country.

The following countries are parties to Petrocaribe: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Venezuela.