BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Caribbean Community leaders have a packed agenda for a special two-day summit which begins in Castries, St Lucia tomorrow under the chairmanship of Jamaica’s prime minister, P J Patterson.

Economic and political issues of importance to the 15-member community, including the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), relations with the United States of America and Cuba, as well as forthcoming international meetings are among the items for discussion.

The summit, which was originally scheduled to be hosted by Barbados, was shifted to St Lucia, with new arrangements by the Caricom Secretariat.

Leaders and ministers are expected to move straight into working sessions after the opening statement by Patterson, the current Caricom chairman, who sources said, has urged colleagues to give their widest possible participation for concerted efforts to resolve outstanding matters from the annual regular Caricom Summit hosted in Montego Bay in July.

However, sources said that at least three prime ministers are expected to miss the summit. Absentees will include:

Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, who has been ordered by his doctor to rest for a week; Pierre Charles of Dominica, who is currently receiving medical attention in the United States; and Keith Mitchell, said to be deeply involved in Grenada’s current general election campaign.

There was no confirmation whether Haiti’s president, Jean Bertrand Aristide will attend. Haiti’s forthcoming Bicentennial Independence Anniversary in January 2004 is one of the political matters for discussion.

Tomorrow’s special summit will take place amid increasing reservations about the “readiness” by a number of member governments with the required legislative measures for implementation of the first phase of the community’s single market at year end.

The Castries summit will be preceded by today’s special meeting of Caricom’s Council on Trade and Economic Development (COTED), also in St Lucia.

The COTED meeting today is expected to arrive at a common regional position on the hemispheric — wide free trade arrangements ahead of the forthcoming FTAA Ministerial Meeting, scheduled for Miami from November 20 – 21.

A report from the COTED meeting is expected to be ready in time for the Caricom leaders’ deliberations on common approaches by the region on negotiations involving the FTAA; World Trade Organisation (WTO) and proposed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), involving the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union.