CARICOM, Cuba Heads to meet in Antigua

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)      Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Republic of Cuba will hold the Sixth CARICOM-Cuba Summit in Antigua and Barbuda on Friday 8 December.

The Meeting will be co-chaired by the Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell of Grenada,  and the President of  Cuba, Raúl Castro.

This Meeting marks 45 years of diplomatic relations between CARICOM and Cuba, and will examine issues of regional and global importance including climate change adaptation and disaster risk management. A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and Cuba’s Agency for Civil Defence which will provide opportunities for closer collaboration, especially following the  devastating impact of the September 2017 hurricanes across the region, and the increased focus on climate change resilience.    

Friday’s discussions will also review the status of the decades-old CARICOM-Cuba cooperation in commercial and economic areas. Trade relations between the two parties were strengthened in November 2017 with the signing of the Second Protocol to the CARICOM-Cuba Trade Agreement. The Protocol expands reciprocal duty-free market access to more than 320 items including meat, fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, beer, rum, cement, soap and apparel.

Cuba, a significant development partner, has supported the Community in building its human resource capacity through scholarship programs offered in several areas of study, including health and medicine, sports, agriculture and trade.

The Summit will conclude with the adoption of a CARICOM-Cuba Joint Declaration.

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