(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is poised to receive assistance from the Government of Korea to advance the Region’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development agenda.
On Tuesday 2 May, CARICOM and Korea signed a Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism at the CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana, formalising bilateral cooperation between the two sides in a number of areas including the use of ICTs for the Community’s development.
The Agreement, which was signed by CARICOM Secretary-General H.E Edwin Carrington and Ambassador H.E Soong-chull Shin of the Republic of South Korea, is intended, among other things, to “strengthen consultations concerning bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest, and to aid in the “expansion and diversification of trade and investment flows.”
Under the Agreement, the promotion of investment and tourism; the exchange of views and information on measures to facilitate access to CARICOM and Korea’s markets; and the fostering of entrepreneurial, scientific, technological and personnel exchange are also expected to flow out of future cooperation.
In a short statement at the signing ceremony, Mr. Carrington said the Agreement marked “a new and significant step” in ongoing technical cooperation between the Republic of Korea and CARICOM. He said it fitted into the Community’s Single Market focus and was part of the Region’s efforts at networking with multilateral partners in the global setting with the CARICOM Single Market and Economy as the platform for that interface.
Mr. Carrington said the Community was appreciative of Korea’s support for the Community in the area of governance and noted its assistance with respect to the CARICOM Electoral Observer Mission to Haiti during the recent Presidential elections. The Secretary-General also thanked Korea for its on-going support to a project to improve the structure of governance within the Community.
In brief remarks, Korea’s Ambassador Shin said the signing “will lay a fundamental base” in furtherance of CARICOM-Korea cooperation. Mr Shin in congratulating the Community on the coming into being of the CARICOM Single Market expressed hope that the agreement would serve to assist the Community in strengthening the Single Market.
