Above: Dubai

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Caribbean Community has been invited to establish a diplomatic mission in the United Arab Emirates.

The invitation was extended to CARICOM this week by Minister of State in the United Arab Emirates Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemy, and was dnrosed by the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,.

It was made last week during a meeting of Caribbean Foreign Ministers in Dubai last week.

Grenada Foreign Minister Nickolas Steele reportedly spearheaded the proposal to establish a Caribbean diplomatic presence in the Middle Eastern Country.

A statement from the Grenadian government said Steele had engaged other regional ministers in his drive for closer ties, believing that “region’s interests and engagement with the UAE will be best served if the countries move forward as a bloc, than going it alone.”

Under the proposal, CARICOM countries would work under one “CARICOM Mission Umbrella.”

Grenada and the Bahamas have already laid the groundwork for individual missions in Dubai.

Grenada’s government said the purpose of its planned mission was toward “extending their countries’ interests and visibility in what has been hailed as the most innovative and fastly-growing region of the world—the United Arab Emirates.”