On December 15th 1965, Antiguan Hero Sir Vere Cornwall Bird joined with regional leaders Errol Barrow of Barbados and Forbes Burnham of Guyana to sign the Dickenson Bay Agreement which initiated the creation of a Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). This agreement set the foundation for regional trade cooperation with the goal of enhancing the variety of goods available across the various states which had taken an interest in joining the association.

At CARIFTA’s Seventh Heads of Government Conference in October 1972, Caribbean Leaders agreed to transform CARIFTA which had grown to a membership of 12 states into the Caribbean Community, of which the Common Market would be an integral part. The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was then formally established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas signed on July 4th, 1973.

From the inception, Antigua and Barbuda communicated its intention in the Georgetown Accord signed on 12 April 1973 in Guyana to withdraw from what would become a defunct CARITA, to be a part of CARICOM by May 1, 1974, a regional institution primed to meet the needs of evolving

Caribbean States.

Antigua and Barbuda has been, and continues to stand as an ardent supporter of the Caribbean integration movement. As such, it is with great pride that we celebrate CARICOM’s 50th year as the oldest surviving integration movement within the developing world and recognize our colleagues around the region for their continued collaboration and cooperation. We wish to take this moment to both reflect on our evolution and look ahead reaffirming our commitment to the ethos and aspirations of CARICOM.