GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has assumed the Chairmanship of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Browne, who will serve for the next six months, succeeds the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Keith Rowley.

The new CARICOM chairman is expected to tackle certain issues during his tenure, these include the reduction of intra-regional air travel taxes, the potential for a regional medicinal cannabis market and the sustained threat to regional development with respect to de-risking.

In a statement from the Guyana based Secretariat of the regional body, Browne, who holds responsibility for Services in CARICOM’s Quasi Cabinet, will chair the virtual 42nd meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government which begins on Monday.

This year’s meeting will mark the 48

^th

 anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.

The official opening session of this year’s conference will include remarks from Browne, as well as outgoing CARICOM Chairman, Dr Keith Rowley, and CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.

The upcoming meeting will be Ambassador LaRocque’s last in the role, as he is set to be succeeded by Dr Carla Barnett, the first woman and Belizean to be selected for the post.

She will assume office on August 15 and become the 8

^th

 Secretary-General in CARICOM’s history.