Girvan, ACS ministers ponder progress

On November 27 the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) held its 9th Ordinary Ministerial Meeting in Panama. Jamaica, representing CARICOM, was elected to Chair the ACS Ministerial Council for 2004. Also elected to Chair ACS Committees were Trinidad and Tobago for Trade; Aruba for Transport; Costa Rica for Sustainable Tourism and the Netherlands Antilles for Natural Disasters. Venezuela will continue to Chair the ACS Special Fund.

In 2003 the Association has continued to make steady progress in fostering cooperation across the Greater Caribbean in the four selected focal areas. In Panama, the Ministers approved the text of an ACS Air Transport Agreement that will substantially liberalize air services among the majority of ACS members and associate member states; for signature at the 4th ACS Summit next February 13-14 in Panama. The agreement will provide the incentive for regional airlines to open up additional intra-Caribbean air services. This will help to boost intra-Caribbean tourism and business travel, as well as multi-destination tourism from outside the region.

Also approved was the text of a Protocol to the Convention Establishing the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean. This addresses certain legal points of interpretation of the Convention that require clarification prior to ratifying the Convention and bringing it into force. These points have now been resolved to everyone's satisfaction; and the Protocol will also be signed at the ACS Summit next year.

The agreements on air transport and sustainable tourism are significant steps towards cooperation in two areas of vital economic interest to the region. Located at the cross-roads of South and North America and accounting as for two-thirds of the tourist business of the whole of Latin American and Caribbean region, the Greater Caribbean is poised to make a strategic thrust in these two areas and to link to them the goal of stimulating expanded intra- Caribbean trade.

Other significant achievements in 2003 include completion of a project for training in Spanish and French for nationals of the Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS). In trade, the fourth Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean was successfully held in Santiago de Cuba. A seminar/workshop was held for international trade negotiators and detailed technical work has been completed on the treatment of small economies in international trade agreements.

In natural disasters, a project was completed for the updating of building codes to withstand wind and earthquake damage within the scheduled time. And the ACS was selected to be one of the coordinating bodies in preparing the Latin American and Caribbean regional position for the 2nd World Conference on Early Warning Systems held in Germany in October.

Through the ACS Special Fund, a total of 19 projects in the focal areas have been supported with a total value of $1.3 million. This past year contributions and technical cooperation were received from the governments of France, Finland, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Turkey, the United Kingdom and the Regional Councils of Martinique and Guadeloupe. A Greater Caribbean Regional Cooperation Strategy is now being prepared with the collaboration of the secretariats of CARICOM and SICA and a Network of National Focal Points for International Cooperation of member countries. Work has advanced on the Caribbean Sea Initiative, the move to have the United Nations declare the Caribbean Sea to be a Special Area in the context of sustainable development.

The meeting approved all these initiatives and endorsed the arrangements for the holding of the 4th Summit; including a special tribute to the former President of Trinidad and Tobago for his role in the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

2004 will be an auspicious year for the ACS: during the year the third Secretary General will take office, the 4th Summit will be held, and the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the Association will be celebrated. It will be a time for stocktaking; and for strategizing for the future.

Professor Norman Girvan is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs- aec.org

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opinion

ACS ministers ponder progress