The Central American System of Integration (SICA) Meeting for the Commission of Specialized Secretaries and Institutions started yesterday, Tuesday 14 January at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santo Domingo with 126 national and international delegates, with the task of organizing the national and regional agenda for the integration process for the first semester of 2014.
In his role as the current President of SICA, the DR’s deputy Minister of Foreign Relations for Economic and Commercial Affairs Cesar Dargam welcomed the participants and outlined the priorities proposed by the Dominican Republic for January to June 2014,
The Secretary General of SICA, Hugo Martinez, listed the regional priorities and the need to strengthen communications between members as well as the strategic vision and the integration process.
Representatives of each of the regional institutions participating in the meeting made a brief speech about their main areas of progress and challenges and the agendas held by their respective Ministries or mandatory forums.
Five topics will be rolled out over five months: Climate Change and Disaster Prevention, Social Integration, Economic Integration, and Democratic Security and Institutional Strengthening.
The national institutions involved will include the Ministries of the Environment and Natural Resources, Public Works and Communications, the Presidency, Interior and Police, Economy, Planning and Development, Tourism, Sport and Youth.
The Central Bank, the Vice Presidency of the Republic, the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewers, the National Meteorological Office, the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development, the Dominican Telecommunications Institute, the National Police, the National Statistics Office and the Immigration Department will also be taking part.
SICA is the institutional Regional Integration forum for Central America and its members are Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/1/14/306837/Con-delegados-de-126-naciones-inicia-primera-reunion-de-instancias-del