Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 24/Sep 19:07

Sobers, Morris engage world leaders at UNGA

FOREIGN and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers held high-level talks with several world leaders as he continued to push "agenda TT" at the ongoing 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will leave TT on September 25 to join up with the TT delegation which also includes parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Nicholas Morris, that ministry's permanent secretary Randall Karim and Minister of Planning and AI Dominic Smith. Persad-Bissessar is expected to address the general assembly on Friday. Also accompanying the PM to New York is Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath. Works and Infrastructure Minister Jearlean John is acting as prime minister in Persad-Bissessar's absence. Sobers and the TT delegation have already held discussions with Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic; Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Sobers, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, then held a bilateral meeting with Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austria's Minister of Foreign Affairs. This discussions focuse on strengthening co-operation between TT and Austria in areas such as healthcare, AI, trade and education; as well as exploring opportunities for collaboration with the wider Caricom region. Prior to the bilateral meeting, Sobers had a brief exchange with Dr Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal President of Austria. The minister also signed a Joint Communiqué with his counterpart, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin, formally establishing diplomatic relations between TT and Benin. Their discussions highlighted shared priorities in strengthening multilateral co-operation, while identifying areas for enhanced collaboration including prospective direct air services between Benin and the Caribbean region. Parliamentary secretary Morris, represented TT at the high-level meeting of the Like-Minded Group of the Global South, hosted by Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar – India's Minister of External Affairs. Morris highlighted TT's commitment to advancing the common interests of developing countries and called for greater South-South cooperation within the developing world. The post Sobers, Morris engage world leaders at UNGA appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.