CARICOM hoping to reconvene joint commission meeting with Chile

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett has accepted the credentials of the new Chilean ambassador to the regional integration grouping, hoping that his tenure will help in reconvening the CARICOM Standing Joint Commission on Consultation and Coordination.

Barnett told Chile’s Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community, Francisco Sepulveda Valenzuela, that relations between CARICOM and Chile date back to 1996 following the signing of the agreement on scientific and technical cooperation on a wide range of issues.

She said Chile has offered technical assistance primarily in the form of training courses in natural resources, agriculture, health and nutrition, international negotiations with diplomatic training among other areas.

Carla Barnett said the staff at the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat have also benefitted from these initiatives, adding “these programs hold great importance for CARICOM and play a role in building the Community’s human capital in these critical areas.

“Regrettably, the CARICOM Standing Joint Commission on Consultation and Coordination, the main implementing mechanism established under the agreement has not met for some time.  I hope that during your tenure we can work together to reconvene this Commission,” Barnett said.

She said CARICOM and Chile adopt similar positions on critical international issues, including climate change and climate finance, adding “we look forward to Chile’s continuing advocacy for the positions of our Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS) on these issues”.

But she noted that graduation from access to concessional financing is another issue which continues to occupy the attention of CARICOM member states.

“Many of our member states are categorized as Middle-Income Countries (MICs). The use of per capita income as the primary condition works to their detriment. CARICOM hopes that it can count on Chile‘s advocacy in international fora such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), for its efforts to have vulnerability factored into the determination of eligibility for development financing,” the CARICOM secretary general added.

CMC/