PRESS CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY GRENADA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY GRENADA

At a press conference sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Grenada this morning, the Secretary-General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Simon Molina Duarte, said that the Association was working on a regional collaborative effort to tackle natural disasters such as the recent volcano eruption in Montserrat.

Introduced by Ambassador Lamuel A. Stanislaus, Deputy Permanent Representative of Grenada, which is the current Chair of the Association, Mr. Molina Duarte said such a mechanism would help member countries affected by such natural disasters as earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes not only in the emergency process but also in the recovery and the rehabilitation of the affected economies. The need for a regional effort to control and manage natural disasters arose because smaller countries such as ACS members did not have the capacity to deal with and recover quickly from natural disasters

He said the Association was preparing a proposal to the Ministers for Foreign Affairs to get sufficient external financing for continuous assistance to any of its members affected by natural disasters. The proposal was expected to be approved by December and would be put into operation by early next year.

The Association, a political and diplomatic forum created on 24 July 1994 to deal mainly with technical issues, such as tourism, trade and transportation, also maintained functional cooperation in the areas of science and technology, education and culture, health and sports.

Mr. Molina Duarte said the Association was also drafting a convention to establish a uniform set of rules, rights and obligations to protect the Caribbean Sea as the common patrimony of the Caribbean people. The first worldwide zone for "touristical sustainable development" would be created in the Greater Caribbean. The convention would be approved by December 1998 by all the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of its member countries.

The governments of ACS States had also decided to cooperate in the area of transportation, especially air and maritime transport, he said. With regard to trade, the regional group was also working towards adopting a common position on the free trade area of the Americas and in other important issues affecting the region, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Association had also created a special fund to finance projects related to the social aspects of development, such as education, arts and culture, science and technology. It plans to present concrete proposals in those areas to United Nations bodies, international financial institutions and regional institutions. The ACS, its Secretary-General pledged, hoped to forge closer cooperation with United Nations agencies and the regional organizations that deal with common problems of the region.

ACS Press Conference - 2 - 17 September 1997

With a secretariat in Port-of-Spain, the ACS had 25 member countries, including the 13 members of Caribbean Community, the five members of the Central American Common Market, the Group of Three -- Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, and other countries not aligned with any integration scheme, such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and Panama, he said. Members also included dependent territories. Several other countries have observer status.

Asked if China and Taiwan, province of China were among those observer nations, the Secretary-General said the regional group had not yet decided on their applications. A decision would be taken in November when its members met in Cartagena, Colombia.

Responding to a question on whether India had been lobbying the group in its quest for a permanent seat in the Security Council, the Secretary-General said the Association would not be involved in that matter. Other bodies were better placed to deal with that issue.

Mr. Stanislaus said the Association was "performing at a good and decent level with respect to matters affecting the Caribbean area by way of trade, transportation, science and technology and other areas of interest to us."

The Director of the Association, Fay Durrant, said Grenada was putting in place a process of consultation by which the ACS would be able to apply for observer status at the United Nations. The Director pledged that ACS would cooperate and collaborate with the United Nations as much as possible.

* *** *