President Danilo Medina held a meeting with Louis Michel at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Thursday 14 February. Former Belgian foreign minister and deputy Prime Minister Michel is the co-president of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
He is in the Dominican Republic for the 9th Regional Meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) that is taking place in Santo Domingo from 14-16 February. The JPA advises on the formulation development cooperation policies between the EU and its 15 partners in the Caribbean.
The Presidency reported that Michel confirmed that the JPA would continue to support the strengthening and implementation of government development projects. Michel was accompanied by second JAP co-president Nita Deerpalsing, Irene Horejs, European Union ambassador in the DR, and deputy foreign relations minister Jose Manuel Trullols.
“We positively value President Medina’s decision to increase funding for pre-university education from 2 to 4% of GDP,” said Michel at a press conference at the Presidency. “I am favorably impressed with President Medina’s development vision.”
13 CARICOM Member States, the Dominican Republic, and nine from the European Union, with Cuba attending as observer are attending the meeting. The agenda includes regional integration, cooperation, trade agreements and reconstruction of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.
www.presidencia.gob.do/noticia.php?type=release&id=1332