Speaking in Trinidad at the 34th Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on Friday, 5 July, President Danilo Medina asked for full membership status of the regional organization for the Dominican Republic. The country currently has observer status. The petition has the support of the new chair of Caricom, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad. The DR is one of the leading buyers of Trinidadian natural gas.
Medina said that Caricom’s expansion was key to its strengthening and integration with the entire Caribbean region. Other observer countries in the Caribbean are Aruba, Colombia, Curacao, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Martin and Venezuela.
The Dominican President also highlighted the Hopefor project that seeks to improve the response capacity of regional emergency organizations to mitigate natural disasters. The Hopefor 2013 conference takes place in Santo Domingo in November.
President Medina also advocated for initiatives favoring the movement of people, goods, capital and ideas within the Caribbean and the development of tourism.
President Medina confirmed the Dominican Republic’s commitment to cooperation, regional integration, peace, solidarity, creation of jobs and opportunities for the development of the citizens of Caribbean countries.
“I would like to emphasize that the Dominican Republic stands before you with open arms to work with humility. Our government firmly believes in integration based on the understanding of consensus and mutual help. We are talking about neighbors helping neighbors, not about imposing the interests of one country on those of another,” he said. He stressed that Caricom is and should increasingly be the natural space for exchange, cooperation and integration for the peoples of the Caribbean, based on complementing each other and integration and the convergence of their economies. He called for a rebirth of Caricom.
“We need to be daring and creative in the search for opportunity niches to overcome together the challenges we all need to meet. This is the moment to look to the new frontiers of Caribbean convergence proposed by the Minister of Foreign Relations of Trinidad and Tobago Winston Dookeran,” he said. Medina added that only by working together would the Caribbean converge to promote production and competitiveness in a market of 40 million people, based on participation and cooperation among members.
In an editorial in El Dia today, Monday 8 July, the writer explains that being a full member of Caricom would enable the country to use the regional platform for trade talks with Haiti, which is already a full member. The idea is that the new chair of Caricom could help the Dominican Republic make progress in trade with Haiti.
www.presidencia.gob.do/comunicados/danilo-medina-republica-dominicana-viene-ante-ustedes-con-los-brazos-abiertos