(Caribbean Community Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Newly accredited Ambassador of Japan to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), His Excellency Yoshimasa Tezuka, has pledged to “do his best” to “provide all possible means for the development of CARICOM countries”.

Delivering remarks after presenting his credentials to Amb. Irwin LaRocque, CARICOM Secretary-General, at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, on 25 May 2012, the Ambassador assured the Community that he would “vigorously” follow-up on the outcome of the CARICOM-Japan Public-Private Joint Economic Mission, held in Trinidad and Tobago, 20-25 November 2011.

The CARICOM-Japan Public-Private Joint Economic Mission was a forum in which CARICOM promoted investment opportunities to Japan in areas such as energy, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The week’s activities had featured a Japan Business Seminar and several bilateral meetings between representatives of both sides.

The Japanese delegation to that engagement included some of the most successful Japanese Private Sector Business Corporations including Fujitsu, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Hitachi, as well as the public sector business entities including the Japan Bank of International Cooperation and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metal National Corporation.

In addition to providing an overview of the economic situation and prospects the Region held, the CARICOM delegations had also highlighted the incentives and enabling attributes that their respective countries provided to attract investors.

On Friday, Ambassador Tezuka said that he anticipated that the upcoming Fifteenth CARICOM-Japan Consultation, slated for 23 July 2012, at the CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters, would further strengthen ties between the two parties.