The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has accepted an invitation from the United States International Trade Commission to participate in a public hearing on Caribbean Economic Development in Washington, DC.

Assistant Secretary-General (Trade and Economic Integration), Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, will represent the CARICOM secretary-general at the hearing on Tuesday.

The public hearing at the commission's building is titled 'Caribbean Region: Review of Economic Growth and Development' and is a direct result of the conference on the Caribbean which was held in Washington last June.

The commission was asked to conduct this hearing by the United States House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee which is led by Congressman Charles Rangel. A number of member states of CARICOM will also participate in the hearing.

In-depth report

The request to the commission from the House Ways and Means Committee requires the commission to conduct a fact-finding investigation and to "provide a report that contains an in-depth description of current levels of economic development in the Caribbean Basin and an overview of the economic literature on potential Caribbean development."

The results of the hearing, Congressman Rangel told the commission in a letter of November 7, 2007, would assist in identifying ways that US trade and aid policy could most help the Caribbean Basin and identify possible future development strategies.