President Medina gave the opening speech at the 20th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Forum (Cariforum) that began in Santo Domingo yesterday, Thursday 29 November. Ministers from Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago are attending the event.
President Medina said the DR would redouble its efforts to promote an increase in wealth and economic growth abroad, so that increases in growth (GDP) may be converted into increases in welfare and social justice for the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Medina stressed that it is important for the Caribbean, regardless of the current difficulties, to achieve its own definite identity with social, economic and cultural advances that foster its development.
“Mercosur, Andean Community, Unasur, SICA, Caricom are still imperfect associations that need to converge towards a greater political, economic and social integration, because the cultural base of the union is formed by our common origins,” Medina told his audience.
He called for the prevalence of modern and democratic mindsets, capable of overcoming old conflicts, to see all neighbors as equals, in a spirit of open dialogue and harmonization that may result in more fair agreements that benefit the poorer countries of the region.
“We need to overcome the prejudices and anachronistic positions of those who think that we do not need our brothers and neighbors and that we do not have obligations towards them or that we need to show solidarity. I am determined to take that road and that’s why one of my first actions was to give our relations with Haiti a boost to reach important agreements, not only economic, but also political and social,” said Medina.
Minister of Foreign Relations Carlos Morales Troncoso highlighted the importance of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). He said the EU has only reached this kind of agreement with the Caribbean.
The event focuses on the implementation of the EPA, the support of the European Development Fund (EDF) and obstacles affecting Caribbean rum exports to the United States. The agenda for discussion also includes reform of the Cariforum governance structure and regional participation in different cooperation schemes, especially with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The director-general of the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) Directorate in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Ivan Ogando Lora, listed the conference objectives as the institutional assessment of the CARIFORUM Directorate, finalization of the substantive text of the new joint Caribbean-European Union (EU) partnership strategy, the new EU development policy and approach to budget support, commencement of preparation for the first EU/Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit in 2013, convening of the second meetings of the CARIFORUM-EU Trade and Development Committee and the joint CARIFORUM-EU Council under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and commencement of discussions on the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) regional indicative program (and status of 9th and 10th EDF planning and implementation).
Morales Troncoso said that in the past five years the Dominican Republic has received around RD$1 billion from the European Union that has been invested in education, health, infrastructure and institutional strengthening.
The secretary general of Cariforum Irwin LaRocque and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Christian Leffler are here for the meeting. Ministers of Industry and Commerce Jose del Castillo and Economy Temistocles Montas are also representing the Dominican government at the event.
LaRocque said during the event that the greatest challenge of the Caribbean countries is to create awareness in the European Union of the importance of maintaining development assistance to the region.
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