(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Secretary General of CARIFORUM/CARICOM His Excellency Edwin Carrington and European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid , Mr. Luis Michel , on Monday, 08 January, 2007 signed a Financing Agreement for a grant of €40.5M to support the Caribbean Region in achieving its objective of regional economic integration and repositioning into the world economy.
The signing took place at the Commission’s headquarters in Brussels.
The EC funding comes from the Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme of the 9th EDF (European Development Fund.) It is the largest and most important individual EDF package of support to the Caribbean Region and is crucial for advancing work on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). For its part, CARICOM is contributing €900,000 to this programme.
Among the key programme components are support to the range of measures to implement the CSME and general support to the CARICOM Secretariat.
The Agreement covers support to the Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) to enable it to provide CARIFORUM countries with technical support and training on macro-economic questions; as well as support to the improvement and harmonised production of economic statistical data at the regional and national levels in CARICOM.
Under the Agreement, support will be extended to the external trade negotiations carried out by CARIFORUM countries, through the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), based in Barbados. The CRNM is in charge of co-ordinating trade negotiations for the Region, in particular the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU. Assistance will also be rendered to the OECS Representation in Geneva dealing with WTO matters.
In addition, the Agreement covers support for the establishment and operation of the Caribbean Institute of Translation and Information to be located in Suriname; and support for the development of the Caribbean Information and Communication Society.
The terms of the Agreement also provide for support for the reduction of supply and demand for illegal drugs.
A component of the Agreement grants support to Phase II of the Ogle Airport Development in Guyana.
See also:
Statement by H.E. Edwin W. Carrington, Secretary General CARIFORUM/CARICOM at Signing of Financing Agreement for the 9th EDF Caribbean Integration Support Programme in Brussels, January 2007
Commissioner,
Members of Staff of the Commission,
Representatives of CARIFORUM Member States,
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
My visits, and revisits, to Brussels arouse deep emotions for a variety of reasons. A significant factor in that nostalgia arises from the quality of the relationship between the Commission and the ACP, which had developed and grown during and since my sojourn in Brussels. My sentiments are invariably positive. Today’s event, the signing of a Financing Agreement for a Caribbean Integration Support Programme (CISP) for more than 40 Million Euros, demonstrates to me that the deep cooperative spirit between the Commission, and the ACP, particularly the Caribbean Group, is alive and well, and that our joint efforts in Development Finance Cooperation are yielding rewards.
For this Mr. Commissioner, I must sincerely thank you and your professional staff and on our side our Caribbean Representatives here in Brussels.
Today’s event marks a milestone in a process involving a series of activities which commenced in November 2005, in Martinique at the Clovis Beauregard Conference on Regional Cooperation in the Caribbean. During that Conference, the senior representatives of the Commission and of the Caribbean took the opportunity to hold a Mid-Term Review Meeting on the Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme of the 9th EDF. It was a tough but very valuable meeting.
Following that meeting, representatives of CARIFORUM and the Commission’s Delegation in Guyana, began work on a programming vision which had arisen out of that Mid-Term Review Meeting.
In April 2006, at a bi-lateral meeting between yourself, Mr. Commissioner and myself, assisted by a number of our senior officials, we were able to bring greater clarity to that programming vision. We were able, more specifically, to jointly explore implementation mechanisms, including through a Contribution Agreement, which would bring more efficiency to the implementation of Caribbean Regional Projects. Jointly, we were able to decide on certain implementation mechanisms which permitted the programming process to be continued and advanced.
Less than 6 months after reaching that agreement, a Financing Agreement was approved by the EDF Committee and a positive opinion given by the Commission on a CISP package valued at more than 40 Million Euros, no doubt due to your indefatigable and persistent efforts Mr. Commissioner.
Mr. Commissioner, the result apart, the process itself was very important. It has demonstrated what, with good will, we can jointly achieve when we set our collective minds to a given task and follow through. It further demonstrates the pace at which progress can be made when, at the highest policy level, we make clear decisions on the basis of which our technical representatives can undertake the required work. It also clearly points to the absolute necessity for regular dialogue between us at the highest level. I am convinced that there is no other way in which to programme and implement our Development Finance Cooperation activities efficiently. Again Mr. Commissioner, thanks for your leadership in this process.
While the process itself is very important, the content of the CISP package is no less so. In one Agreement, we have been able to support the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); enhance CARICOM/CARIFORUM cooperation; provide assistance for an OECS presence at the WTO in Geneva; enhance CARIFORUM capacity for more effective participation in EPA negotiations; provide for improved and intensified activities in economic statistics, ICT and Translation and Interpretation Services; deal with transportation issues, through support for the Ogle Airport Development in Guyana; and provide the CARICOM Secretariat with institutional support to improve its own efficiencies as well as to take on board more effectively the CARIFORUM technical functions, through the merger of the CARICOM and CARIFORUM Secretariats.
This is indeed a mouthful and reflects the diversity of coverage of the contents of the CISP package. That diversity clearly reflects the reality of the development priorities of CARIFORUM.
Mr. Commissioner, we have therefore made significant strides. We have in fact been able to make a quantum leap in the programming and implementation of Caribbean Regional Programmes financed by the European Development Fund. We must now complete the process with the 9th EDF End of Term Review, bearing in mind the deadline of 2007 for the programming of any decommitted funds. We must also jointly make quick progress on 10th EDF Programming on the basis of the technical document already prepared by CARIFORUM with technical assistance from the Commission.
And we must assist in the definition of the Development Chapter and the overall development dimension of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which we are now negotiating, to ensure that a final EPA brings added value to our development cooperation.
Mr. Commissioner, it is clear that we are at an important crossroad in our cooperation. We can take the right turn and build on the achievement we have had on this 9th EDF CISP project.
I still believe in uniqueness, special status, depth and importance of ACP/EU and CARIFORUM/EU relations and I continue to believe that we can use the experience of this particular project to enrich that relationship which remains unique; special and the best on offer between the developed and developing world.
Thanks to you Mr. Commissioner, and to your senior Staff; and thanks also to the CARIFORUM representatives, a small corner of humanity is set to benefit from your labours.
