(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)    The first ever Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) from the Kingdom of the Netherlands Her Excellency Lucita MoenirAlam presented her credentials to Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque at a simple ceremony at his office in Georgetown, Guyana on Wednesday.
Both Ambassadors agreed that the accreditation was a step forward in the deepening of relations between the Netherlands and CARICOM. Ambassador MoenirAlam said that the Kingdom was “eagerly awaiting” CARICOM’s response to the applications by Sint Maarten and Curacao for Associate Membership. The Secretary-General explained the process and the issues to be addressed in respect of the applications.
Secretary General LaRocque said that in deepening the co-operation between the two sides there was a need to identify areas of common interest. In that regard he cited Climate Change, the negotiating of the Post 2015 Development Agenda and the issues facing middle income countries as matters of interest to CARICOM. It would be important, he said that the “Kingdom of the Netherlands be sensitised to the realities” of the situation.
Ambassador MoenirAlam recounted the Netherlands assistance in the area of Maritime Counter Narcotics operations and identified regional security, sustainable development and good governance as areas in which the relations could be broadened and deepened.