PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Fifth Summit of the Americas is to be held here between Friday and Sunday and will bring together 34 heads of state and government of the Americas to discuss and make decisions on issues of relevance for the region.

    The following are things to watch before and during the three-day event.

    All 33 visiting foreign leaders are arriving in the capital city of the Carribean island starting Thursday and they will go into a series of bilateral meetings or group meetings. U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to arrive on Friday and will leave on Sunday.

    On Friday the opening ceremony will takes place in the Hyatt Regency hotel at 6 p.m. (2200 GMT). The leaders and their delegations will be treated to a cultural show after that. Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his wife, Local Government Minister Hazel Manning will then host a cocktail reception for the leaders, their spouses and special guests.

    Aside from attending the opening ceremony, Obama plans to hold three separate group meetings in addition to the official closed-door session between all participating heads of government. The group meetings are likely to be with Caribbean leaders, Central American leaders and a third group composed of heads of state of South America and Mexico, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

    On Saturday the leaders will go into bilateral discussions in the morning. This will be followed by the summit's first plenary session at Hyatt Regency. At noon, Manning will host a working lunch for the visiting leaders at the hotel. The second and third plenary sessions will be held in the afternoon.

    Activities at the Hyatt will end on Saturday evening when Manning hosts an official dinner and a culture show. On Sunday, the final day of the summit, all 34 leaders will hold a retreat at the Diplomatic Center. That will be followed by the closing ceremony, signing of the Declaration of Port-of-Spain and final press conference at the center.

    Meanwhile, the leaders' spouses will be given a tour of Port-of-Spain on Sunday and that will be followed by a fashion show at 10 a.m. All leaders and their delegations are scheduled to leave this country on Sunday and Monday.

    The private sector, civil society and youth forums will be held on board the cruise ships Caribbean Princess and Carnival Victory from Wednesday to Thursday. These ships which will be docked at the Port-of-Spain port.

    Trinidad and Tobago will be the first Caribbean nation to host the Summit of the Americas since its inception in 1994 in Miami, United States.