By Clint Chan Tack Thursday, November 19 2009

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning will head a list of political and economic dignitaries who will address the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) on board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Serenade of the Seas at the Port-of-Spain port from November 23 to 26.

The ship will dock at the Port-of-Spain port next to the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Centre which will be the main venue for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from November 27 to 29. Manning, Grenada Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma and Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza will formally open the CBF at 9.30 am on November 23. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Zambian President Rupiah Banda, Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson are the other Commonwealth Heads of State carded to address the three-day forum.

BP Group Chief Executive Dr Anthony Hayward, Cable and Wireless chairman Sir Allan Fields, Atlantic Tele-Network president. Arcelor Mittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal and CEO Michael Prior, Diamond Group chairman Dr Pascal Dozie and 2001 Nobel Prize winner (economics) Professor Joseph Stiglitz are included amongst the business and economic leaders who will address the CBF.

The sectors which will be represented at the CBF include financial services; information communication technology (ICT) and knowledge industries; agriculture and fishing; tourism; energy and energy extractive industries; manufacturing and exports; transport and logistics and creative industries.

With CHOGM being the last major summit to take place before the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month, climate change will take equal importance with the global financial crisis on the CHOGM’s agenda. This is reflected during day one of the CBF on November 24 with sessions that deal with renewable and alternative energy and technology and the environment which will address the economic implications of climate change.,

In light of ongoing efforts to address the global financial crisis, Manning said, “The forum will highlight new global economic partnership arrangements to promote trade and investment in key sectors across the Commonwealth and beyond, particularly in the Americas.”

“The CBF as a unique gathering of business leaders from developed and emerging markets will focus on building the new economic and financial architecture in the global economy and ensure that it is inclusive and beneficial to all. This important business meeting will present a useful platform for fostering such partnerships and new relationships,” he stated.

Manning has said TT will benefit in the long run from new investments in the economy which will result from the hosting of the CHOGM and the Fifth Summit of the Americas.