Premier Pamela Gordon is set to attend a major Caribbean Forum next month chaired by UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.

The conference will zoom in on hot topics like money laundering and white collar crime, as well as environmental issues, tourism and trade.

And the UK/Caribbean/Atlantic summit will cement a new and stronger relationship between Bermuda and its fellow Dependent Territories to the south, as well as with independent Commonwealth countries in the area.

Mr. Cook said: "The forum will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss practical measures with our key partners in the region on how we can address a broad range of Caribbean issues.'' Labour and Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness, who is set to attend the conference with the Premier, said last night it was vital the Island's interests were represented.

Mr. Edness added: "We have to be there to make sure the playing field for our international company business and various other aspects of our relationship with Great Britain keeps moving in a positive direction.'' And he agreed the forum offered a fresh opportunity for Bermuda to reinforce its leadership claim.

Mr. Edness said: "It was considered essential that we be there to take that role.'' Business and other private sector interests from across the Caribbean and Bermuda are also likely to be represented at the two-day forum, to be held in Nassau, the Bahamas.

The conference, to be held on February 12 and 13, will follow hard on the heels of a Dependent Territories Association conference in London slated for next week.

Premier Pamela Gordon will lead a team to London, while Opposition Jennifer Smith will head a six-strong Opposition delegation.

Mr. Cook -- although unlikely to unveil a hard and fast position -- is expected to outline the main areas the UK will be prepared to give ground on.

The British Government has already canvassed opinion on citizenship rights, independence and the likelihood of a name change from Dependent Territories to something less patronising.

Mr. Cook will be backed by Baroness Symons, the Foreign Office junior Minister with responsibility for Bermuda and Scots MP George Foulkes, junior Minister at the Department for International Development.

Premier Pamela Gordon was yesterday at a major economic forum in Switzerland and could not be contacted for comment.

But it is understood Bermuda -- the most populous and wealthiest of the dozen or so UK colonies left -- will seize the chance to further its claim to leadership of a Caribbean -- Atlantic alliance to lobby Britain amid a massive rewrite of its relations with its Dependent Territories.

The Forum is one of three UK/Caribbean initiatives planned by Mr. Cook as part of a drive to better relations with its Dependent Territories and the Commonwealth.

He also announced the creation of a Caribbean Inward Investment Bureau and an informal advisory group, both of which will be established soon.

IMMIGRATION IMM