The Summit of Heads of State and Government of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) that will take place in the DR in November, will be the most important international event ever held in the history of the DR, Max Puig, the Dominican in charge of the Lome IV program in the DR said. He estimated that 2,500 persons, including 71 chiefs of state and 15 representatives of the European Union will participate in the event, a new challenge to the DR as host country. The DR won the right to host the event by unanimous vote during the First Ministerial Conference of Negotiations among the ACP Group and the European Union, held in Senegal, 6 February. The main issue on the agenda is establishing a common ground for the position of the ACP countries in the conclusion of the post-Lome IV negotiations and future relations wit the European Union in view of new rules of trade set by the World Trade Organization. The DR meeting will be held shortly before the World Trade Organization’s new round of negotiations, Round of the Millennium, that will take place in Seattle, Washington (USA) in December. Minister of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre said that the Caribbean’s position in regards to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas will depend on the post-Lome IV convention. The Secretary General of the ACP, Ngandu Peter Magandc was in Santo Domingo yesterday for meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Relations and President Leonel Fernández on occasion of the hosting of the important event. He visited with Alfa Niaky Barry, director of Information, Public Relations and Protocol of the Secretary General ACP countries. The ACP gathers 71 members and one observer, Cuba. Of the members, 20 are from Africa, 50 from the Caribbean and 8 from the Pacific. The Lome Convention was originally signed in 1975 between the former colonies of Europe and members of the European Union. The accord seeks to promote and accelerate economic, cultural and social development in the ACP countries via several methods of collaboration and the elimination of taxes and quantitative limitations for a number of products entering the EU countries. The DR has been a member of Lome since 1989.
