TWENTY-THIRD MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR FOREIGN AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS (COFCOR), VIRTUAL, 7-8 MAY 2020

OPENING ADDRESSES

Opening
Remarks by Ambassador Irwin LaRocque

Secretary-General
of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

Twenty-Third
Meeting of the COFCOR (virtual)

7-8 May 2020

• His
  Excellency Dr. Claude Joseph, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
  Haiti and Incoming Chair of the COFCOR;
• Hon.
  Peter David, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Grenada and Outgoing Chair of the
  COFCOR;
• Foreign
  Ministers of the Caribbean Community
• Senior
  Officials
• Staff of
  the CARICOM Secretariat

Good
morning.

I
welcome you all to the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Council for Foreign and
Community Relations (COFCOR). I wish to extend a special welcome to
Minister Joseph who is not only attending his first meeting of the COFCOR but
also assuming the Chairmanship of this Council. Honourable Minister, we look
forward to your leadership and you can certainly count on our support.

I also
welcome the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International
Business and Diaspora Relations of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr. the
Honourable Kenneth Darroux, who is also participating in his first meeting of
the COFCOR. The Community welcomes your valuable participation.

Let me
take this opportunity to express sincere appreciation to the Honourable Peter
David, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Grenada and Outgoing Chair of the COFCOR,
for his energetic leadership and capable stewardship during his tenure in the
role.

Ministers
as you are all aware, our world faces a new multifaceted threat - a global
health, social and economic crisis in the form of the novel Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Our
unity as a region is being put to the test in a very crucial way as we respond
to the impact of the pandemic. The accent has been placed on coordination under
the technical guidance of CARPHA and PAHO and the Ministers of Health who have
been meeting regularly, as well as by the political input and support of Heads
of Government who have held two Special Meetings on the related issues. The
assistance of CDEMA has also been mobilized.

Honorable
Ministers, in addition to the ongoing challenges brought on as a result of the
pandemic, we are fast approaching the annual Atlantic hurricane season. The climate
experts forecast that the 2020 season will be above average in the number and
magnitude of the predicted hurricanes. These twin threats will certainly test the
resilience of our Community.  

We need
to continue to actively engage our international development partners with one
voice as we are all in this fight together. In this regard, Foreign Ministers
have been called upon to engage their international counterparts to further the
advocacy initiative undertaken by the Chair of Conference who has written to
global Leaders and financial institutions seeking their support for the
position of CARICOM on access to concessional financing and overcoming the
hurdles that bar such access.

In this
regard, the Community welcomes support from countries like the UK and the US,
and others like the Kingdom of Norway which has supported our efforts to keep
issues of importance to us on the international agenda where we are not
represented. Issues such as climate change and the UN 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) have been raised at the Joint Ministerial Committee of
the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the IMF in Oslo in April by
Norway’s Minister of International Development. We look forward to exploring
further co-operation when we interface with the Foreign Minister of Norway, Her
Excellency Ine Eriksen Søreide, during this meeting.

Among
the other pressing issues, the COFCOR will deliberate on are matters related to
the Community’s diplomatic outreach. CARICOM enjoys relations with countries in
all corners of the world and must continue to develop and balance these
relations while being open to new partners and initiatives. A weakened
multilateral system, and the impulse of individual countries to rush to look
inwards during these unprecedented times, are all the more reason for the
Community to continue to reach out to its existing partners while expanding its
relations with new partners. These considerations are outlined in a discussion
paper presented to this meeting.

One of
the great successes of the Community and particularly of the COFCOR is the
ability to project the single, united voice of the Community in the
international arena. Foreign policy coordination will be of critical importance
in positioning and guiding the Community through these uncertain times. I
sincerely believe through our discussions over the next two days we can take
significant strides in strengthening that co-ordination.

 Ministers and senior officials, I wish us all a successful meeting, one that will strengthen our coordination of foreign policy and promote our strategic interests for the benefit of the citizens of the CARICOM Community.  

OPENING REMARKS

BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. THE HONOURABLE CLAUDE JOSEPH, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WORSHIP OF THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI, ON THE OCCASION OF THE TWENTY-THIRD MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR FOREIGN AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS (COFCOR), VIA ZOOM, 7 MAY 2020

Honourable
Charles Peter David, Minster of Foreign Affairs and Labour of Grenada and
Outgoing Chairman of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR),

Colleague
Ministers of Foreign Affairs,

Ambassador
Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community,

Excellencies;

Ladies and
gentlemen.

It is a great
pleasure for the Republic of Haiti, and me personally to assume the
Chairmanship of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR). While
I am delighted to take up this position and to address this august body, I am saddened
that the international health crisis caused by the eruption and spread of the COVID-19
pandemic has compelled us to meet virtually thus preventing me from having the
opportunity to welcome you all in person to Port-au-Prince.

Let me take
this opportunity to express appreciation, on behalf of all my colleagues, to
the Honourable Charles Peter David, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Labour of
Grenada for his enlightened stewardship of the COFCOR during the past year. From
all accounts, he was able to represent the interests of our community very well
during his tenure. I wish to take this opportunity also to thank the Secretary
General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque and the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat for
the excellent arrangements that they have put in place for the convening of
this Meeting during such difficult time.

As you are
aware, the regional integration process of the Caribbean Community represents
an important component of Haiti’s foreign policy.  In this regard, my assumption today as
Chairman of the COFCOR represents a milestone in my country’s history as a
member of CARICOM.   As I start my tenure, I am aware of the many
challenges confronting the Community, especially in the face of COVID19 which
has been characterized as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.
This situation will be most devastating for several CARICOM countries and I
believe that it would be necessary for us to take collective actions as far as
possible.  In this regard, as the
Chairman of COFCOR, it is my aspiration to continue along the same lines as my
predecessor, and for this I will count on the support of each of you, my fellow
Foreign Ministers, and that of the CARICOM Secretariat for a successful term.

May I take
this opportunity to renew Haiti’s firm commitment to actively participate in
the work of the Organs and Institutions of our Community.

Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am sure
you would agree that our meeting today is taking place against the backdrop of an
ever-changing global environment that is characterised by deeply divisive and
challenging issues which have impeded cohesion which in turn has led to greater
uncertainty and unpredictability. More specifically we are being confronted
with the escalation of transnational organized crimes and regional conflicts,
terrorism, climate change and its attendant problems, geopolitical competitions
and issues of governance.

At the
regional level, our Community continues to be faced with a range of development
challenges which hinder the sustainable development process of our respective countries.  I am referring to global warming and climate
change, the use of GDP as the solely criteria for determining access to
concessional financing, particularly in the aftermath of major natural
disasters, correspondent-banking, blacklisting.

To this
existing list is added the increasing incidence of the Coronavirus pandemic whose
dire consequences on the economic growth of the Caribbean region are already
being felt. According to a study recently published by the Inter-American
Development Bank, Caribbean tourism-driven economies could face a seventy-five
per cent reduction in tourism arrivals during 2020.  

These
obstacles in our region have the potential to affect our continuous efforts at
sustained development of our countries.  This
Twenty-third Meeting of the COFCOR therefore gives us the opportunity to
deliberate on critical issues facing our region, while at the same time mapping
out a way forward.

Colleagues, the
Draft Agenda before us this morning is a substantive one.  We will have the opportunity to discuss and
strategize on the best way to benefit from existing mechanisms of cooperation
between CARICOM and a number of its international partners.  We will also be afforded the opportunity to
assess the Community’s participation in sub-regional, hemispheric and
multilateral institutions in which we hold membership. Moreover, our deliberations
will include a reflection on some issues of importance for the Community such
as the increasing incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic on international relations
and, the need for CARICOM to strengthen its Election Observation mechanism.

Colleagues,
despite the challenges of conducting the meeting virtually I trust we will
still be able to have frank and robust discussions on the issues before us and
deliver results for the benefit of our community, so that when our Heads of
Government next meet, they will have a well-determined set of conclusions from
our consultations on these and other issues that are on our Agenda.

I thank you

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7 May 2020