Head of Delegation of the European Union to Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and for the Dutch Overseas Countries and Territories, Ambassador Robert Kopecký on Tuesday presented his Letters of Credence to Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.
The presentation ceremony held at the Caricom Secretariat in Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana, saw Ambassador Kopecký being accredited as the plenipotentiary representative of the European Union (EU) to Caricom. Ambassador Kopecký will now formally be able to continue building on the long standing relationship between the two groupings.
According to an EU release, currently the EU and Caricom have an extensive programme of cooperation focusing on the 10th European Development Fund’s Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme of €165 million that concentrates primarily on assisting the region in implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement [EPA] signed between the EU and Caricom, supporting progress in the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), and facilitating cooperation with the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the latter needing particular assistance to participate fully in regional cooperation since the terrible earthquake.
It also supports further integration in the Organisation of Eastern American States (OECS) sub-region and private sector development through Caribbean export.
Caricom and the EU are currently working on a new joint Caribbean-EU partnership strategy.
This is being accompanied by increased attention to political dialogue.
Coincidentally, the head of the Caribbean Unit of the European External Action Service, John Caloghirou arrived in Guyana on Wednesday to further discuss these issues with Caricom and the EU delegation.
Making his comments after the ceremony, Ambassador Kopecký, said that he “was pleased to discover upon arrival in Guyana that 80 per cent of the current Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme has been committed and looks forward to working with Caricom to ensure that the development of the remaining 20 per cent of EU funded programmes in the areas of health, linguistic support, civil society, crime and security and enhanced cooperation with all territories in the region are fast tracked”. He also expressed the hope that the EPA progresses further in its implementation, and expressed the EU’s renewed commitment to working with Caricom in this regard.
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