Excellency, welcome to the Caribbean Community Secretariat. Your arrival has been long anticipated!
The establishment of an Embassy of Mexico in Georgetown, Guyana – the home of the headquarters of the Caribbean Community – marks a significant signpost in the long standing relationship between the Caribbean Community and Mexico. Our close and historic relations were formalized in 1974, with the signing of the Agreement establishing the CARICOM-Mexico Joint Commission. This has placed Mexico at the top of the list, as the first country to establish a Joint Commission with CARICOM.
Today, the Joint Commission remains the main mechanism for CARICOM-Mexico cooperation at the regional level. Through the Joint Commission, CARICOM has benefited from projects which have resulted in the strengthening of its regional institutions; the enhancement of its human resources, particularly in the area of Spanish language training; and the fostering of new research and development areas within the Region.
Moreover, Mexico, through its membership of the Caribbean Development Bank, has contributed significantly to the promotion of regional integration in CARICOM. Mexico, therefore, is not only neighbour to one of our Member States – Belize, incidentally now occupying the Chair of the Community – but has been a long-standing partner in development with CARICOM.
We are now looking forward to the Fifth Meeting of the CARICOM-Mexico Joint Commission which is scheduled for later this year. We hope that that Meeting will provide the opportunity for our two sides to review and further strengthen our existing relationship.
Excellency, the value your country places on multilateralism and international cooperation is evident from its active participation in a number of international organisations. It is one which the Caribbean Community shares. Not only is Mexico a founding member of the United Nations, it continues to participate actively in the work of the organs of the UN System. On several occasions, it has taken a leadership role within the GRULAC, the Grouping of Latin America and Caribbean Countries. Mexico’s role within the UN System particularly in the spheres of Security, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals also resonate with the Caribbean Community.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the world we live in today is much different from the one that existed some three decades ago, when CARICOM-Mexico cooperation began. The globalization of the world economy with the rapid advancement of technology, has been immensely beneficial to some countries. However, the shortcoming of such interconnectedness is manifested in the contagion effects of the current global financial and economic crisis and the effects of the recent identification of the H1N1 virus which affected North America, Europe and Asia. In this regard, Excellency, please allow me to empathize with the Government and people of Mexico for the loss of life and for the disruption which this virus has visited on your society.
The advantages and disadvantages of the global inter-connectedness and interdependency are also clearly reflected in the impact of the economic crisis; of transnational crimes; and of Climate Change. These and the traffic in illicit drugs are all areas of common interest and relevance to CARICOM and to Mexico.
In this regard, CARICOM recognizes and appreciates your country’s active role in the G-20. It is our hope that we can call upon our friends such as Mexico who can identify with the particular needs of the small, vulnerable, and highly indebted economies of the Caribbean, to articulate our concerns in such fora. You may be aware Your Excellency, that several CARICOM Member States have been “graduated” from access to concessionary loans from the International Financial Institutions. As such, they are deemed ineligible for such financing to support their development, especially at this time when it is most needed. This policy has the potential to severely stunt their social and economic progress. This is yet another area in which we kindly solicit Mexico’s support as we seek redress. This issue will be fully ventilated by our Heads of Government, when they attend the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development, now scheduled to be held at the UN Headquarters on 24-26 June.
CARICOM also recognizes the active participation of the Government of Mexico in the drafting of the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its complementary protocols, such as the protocol on trafficking in persons; smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air; and the illicit manufacture of, and traffic in firearms and drugs.
The threat of crime and insecurity, fuelled in large measure by the traffic in illicit drugs, is undoubtedly one of extreme importance to the CARICOM Region. In that context, Security is one of four pillars of our regional integration movement.
We are therefore heartened by measures – such as the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime – which have very positive implications for the safety and security of all our peoples.
Another area of critical importance and no doubt of common interest, is Climate Change. This phenomenon threatens the very survival of the Small Island developing and Low-Lying Coastal States of CARICOM. Our Member States are among those contributing the least to the causes of that global phenomenon but are among those most affected by it.
Our priorities in respect of Climate Change include the achievement of substantial legally binding reduction in emissions; significant increases in the level of resources available to developing countries to assist their adaptation to the effects of climate change and for research and development activities; and the need to ensure that vulnerability and not per capita income is the main basis for the determination of access to financial assistance for climate change. Another critical aspect for our Community is avoided deforestation, particularly for Guyana, Suriname and Belize.
Excellency, we are pleased to see that Mexico has undertaken to establish the Green Fund as proposed by its distinguished President, His Excellency Felipe Calderón, during the Fifth Summit of the European Union – Latin America and Caribbean held in Lima, Peru in May 2008. We note that the aim of the Green Fund is to expand the participation of all countries that undertake actions to promote clean development as well as to support, financially and technologically, global warming mitigation and adaptation measures. Mexico’s proposal is highly commendable and is one which is certainly welcomed by the Region.
Against this backdrop the Community looks forward to the active participation of Mexico at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in December. This is a very important meeting from which the world should emerge with a new international climate change agreement for the post 2012 Kyoto period. We look forward to collaborating with Mexico in this exercise to ensure that the needs and concerns of the most vulnerable and most severely affected countries are taken on board.
Excellency, the contribution of your Government in the areas of regional and global cooperation is therefore exemplary.
I am confident, Ambassador, that the wealth of experience you bring to this post, having served in key positions both at headquarters and abroad, will contribute significantly to the further strengthening of our relations. We also appreciate the fact that the Government of Mexico has appointed a resident ambassador in Guyana accredited to CARICOM. We look forward to the enhancement of cooperation that will no doubt result from this decision.
Once again, Excellency, welcome to Guyana and to the CARICOM Secretariat. We look forward to working with you and to learning from you more about the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the people of Mexico.
It is therefore my pleasure to graciously accept your credentials as Mexico’s Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community.
