Caribbean leaders head off to Brussels for summit
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Caribbean leaders are heading off to Brussels to attend the second European Union – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit that begins here on Wednesday.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and her Barbadian counterpart, Freundel Stuart, are attending the two-day event that will focus on the future of cooperation between the EU and the countries of CELAC, the 33-member regional grouping of Caribbean, Central American and South American countries representing 600 million people.
The summit will be held under theme ‘Shaping our common future: working for prosperous, cohesive and sustainable societies for our citizens’.
Organisers said at least 61 government leaders will also discuss matters related to international security that will inform the summit’s outcome documents – ‘The Brussels Declaration’ and ‘A Partnership of the Next Generation’.
The EU is a major investor in the CELAC region and a leading trade partner.
“The dialogue with representatives of the EU in Brussels is of particular importance to Jamaica as our country has had a long and successful relationship with the EU spanning 40 years. Over this period, the EU has contributed an estimated J$170 billion (One Jamaica dollar =US$0.004 cents) in development assistance to Jamaica for projects and programmes covering a wide range of areas,” a Jamaica government statement said.
It said that some specific programmes in recent times have included the Sugar Transformation Programme, the J$1.7 billion Sugar Estates Barracks Relocation Project, the Banana Support Programme and construction of the North-Coast Highway.
Last year the EU allocated Euro 46 million (One Euro =US$01.29 cents) in development assistance to Jamaica under the 11th European Development Fund. The EU is the main source of grant funding to Jamaica and the main provider of development aid worldwide.
The Barbados government statement announcing Prime Minister Stuart’s participation at the summit, noted that “this high-level meeting is expected to reconfirm the strategic nature of the EU-CELAC partnership and give guidance on working together in various areas, including science, innovation and technology, environment, climate change, energy, education, and employment to promote social inclusion and cohesion”.
There will also be an EU-CELAC Business Summit on the theme, ‘Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean: Promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Growth by Enhancing the Role of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises,’ on the sidelines of the main Summit.
The first EU-CELAC Summit was held in Chile in January 2013.
The Brussels Summit will receive reports from the Seventh CELAC-EU Trade Unions Forum and the Eight Meeting of CELAC-EU Civil Society held in March this year; as well as the Youth Forum held in April and the First Forum of Mayors, which was held on June 4.