At the Meeting of the Ministerial Council, Member States elect a chair (a fellow Member State) from amongst the 25 states represented on the Ministerial Council, and the work programme for the year is set. The Ministerial Council meets once annually and in Extraordinary Session as necessary. The Council’s Agenda is established by an Intersessional Meeting comprising Members’s accredited Senior Officials . There are preparatory meetings that precede the “Ministerial” also attended by Senior officials of Member States
The 29th Meeting of the ACS Ministerial Council is scheduled to take place on May 9, 2024, at the Hotel Torarica located in Paramaribo, Suriname. ACS Members and Associates can sign up by clicking here.
The Ministerial Council
This is the main governing body of the ACS, which sets out the policies to be provided for in the Articles establishing the ACS and in the Declarations of the Heads of State. Its functions include monitoring the operation of the Secretariat; appointing the Secretary General; forming Special Committees; deciding on matters of membership; convening Summits, and approving work plans and budgets, amongst other responsibilities. It holds an Annual Ordinary Meeting. The Board (consisting of a President, two Vice Presidents and a Rapporteur each nominated from a different geographic sub-group of the ACS) guides and monitors the implementation of the work program.
The ACS Ministerial Council is presently constituted as follows
Suriname
Chair
Dominican Republic
Vice-Chair
Guatemala
Vice-Chair
Mexico
Rapporteur
Draft Agenda
Thursday 9 May, 2024
Hotel Torarica - Paramaribo, Republic of Suriname
08:30 – 08:45
Arrival of Participants
08:45 – 08:50
- Arrival Minister BIBIS
- Arrival Secretaries General
- Arrival Ministers and other Heads of Delegations
- Arrival Ministers
09:00
Opening Ceremony
- Arrival President of the Republic of Suriname
- H.E. Chandrikapersad Santokhi
- National Anthem – Ms. Sara Adam
09:02
- Welcome by MC, Mrs. Jasmien Wijngaarde -Lijkwan
09:04 – 09:09
- Remarks by The Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation Suriname and Chair of the ACS Ministerial
Council, H.E. Albert R. Ramdin
09:10 – 09:15
- Remarks by The Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States
(ACS), H.E. Rodolfo Sabonge
09:16 – 09:18
- Cultural Performance
09:19 – 09:29
- Speech by the President of the Republic of Suriname, H.E. Chandrikapersad Santokhi
9:30
2. Official Photo
Observers, Special Guests and Members of the Press are invited to exit the room.
9:50 – 18:00
3. Closed session
18:00
Observers, Special Guests and Members of the Press are invited to return to the room.
18:00 – 18:15
4. Closing Ceremony
The Chair will invite brief remarks from the Representatives of thos countries and organisations whose requests for membership of the ACS have been approved by the Council.
The Chair will welcome the incoming Chair of the Executive Board of the Ministerial Council and invite the latter to deliver short remarks before formally closing the meeting.
18:15 – 19:00
5. Press Conference