CARICOM REGION BETTER POSITIONED TO UNDERTAKE DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has secured the sum of US$81 million in USAID Assistance to undertake its regional development priorities in Trade Competitiveness, HIV/AIDS and the reconstruction of Grenada.

The funds, which make up part of a five-year programme, mark another important stage in what is described as a "strong, substantial and strategic relationship between USAID and the CARICOM Region."

At a Signing Ceremony held at the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana, Wednesday morning (10 November) Deputy Secretary-General of the CARICOM Secretariat, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite noted that the new programme "will be centred around a new Regional Strategic Objective - the Caribbean Region positioned to succeed in an open trade environment."

This objective takes into account the imminent establishment of the CSME, Ambassador Applewhaite said, and the need to enable the business community to become internationally competitive.

In commenting on the USAID-funded HIV/AIDS component of the programme, the Deputy Secretary General stressed that the US$18.5 million, allocated to support Regional efforts under the strategic framework of the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) Against HIV/AIDS, will be of tremendous assistance in stemming the tide of the epidemic. "We are confident that the joint efforts of the Regional partner institutions in implementing this Project as part of an integrated programme within the Regional Strategic Plan, will result in maximised impact and sustainability, " she added.

The USAID grant also includes financial assistance to the tune of US$44 million toward the reconstruction of hurricane struck Grenada. Speaking on behalf of USAID, Ms. Karen Turner, Mission Director, Jamaica/Caribbean Regional Programme, observed, "we recognize there are threats to the Region's prosperity and we hope to work with the countries in the Region to tackle these threats."

Stressing that USAID's support for disaster management is in "prevention and mitigation" and not merely in "disaster response", Turner added, "these natural hazards have served to reinforce the importance of making disaster prevention and mitigation a more integral component of the Region's economic plans and management thrusts in order to build on economic investments rather than rebuilding the same investments."

The five year Partnership Programme between CARICOM and USAID was described by Turner as "only a part of the wider US foreign policy in the Region that recognizes the close links between the US and the countries of the Region, our peoples, and the importance of us working together to achieve common goals."

The Signing Ceremony is followed by an all day Meeting in Georgetown which will review the priorities, prospects and progress associated with USAID technical assistance to the Region.