Jagdeo elected vice chair of ACP group

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, along with Former Dominican Republic President Fernandez Reyna, has been elected vice chair of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Eminent Persons Group (EPG). Former President Jagdeo told journalists in Brussels, Belgium, where the inaugural meeting of the ACP EPG concluded last Monday, that the need for reinvention of the grouping was not based so much on what happened in the past, but what will happen in the future.
“Clearly, the world has changed – that’s one of the reasons why we need to remain relevant as an organisation to the changing world.

Europe is unwilling to give us a commitment as to what will happen or a clear signal in the post-2020 period.
In the Lisbon Treaty, Europe is committing to a liberalised trade environment, so its support for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for a special status for ACP may disappear, and we don’t have clarity again in that regard.
“So, given all of these things, we cannot be caught flat-footed in 2020. We need clarity from Europe and we need to ensure that the partnership survives with an enhanced, renewed form, and that partnership is broadened – that is the reason for reinvention,” Jagdeo explained.
Vice Chair Reyna said the EPG has a great, mammoth task ahead to infuse new changes in how the ACP should move forward in the future.
“The reason why we’re gathered here is because there is an understanding that, when we gave birth to the ACP grouping back in the 1970s, we have come through a lot of changes worldwide. We are living within a new international environment. Within the EU itself, there are many challenges taking place and we need to rethink and consider the future of the ACP countries.
“The main task of this EPG is to deliver a report in December 2014 with very specific recommendations to give a new identity and a new role within the global affairs, through the countries of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific. We are highly committed with this endeavour and we do hope to have a new guideline for the future integration of the ACP countries within the global economy,” Reyna said.
Reyna said the EPG will have two years to engage in wide consultation throughout the ACP countries and regions. He stated, by the end of the process, they will have sufficient perspective on this issue to provide some very concrete recommendations.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has been elected chair of the grouping.
The ACP is a group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific whose main objectives are sustainable development and poverty reduction within member states, as well as their greater integration into the global economy.