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| July 2001 | ||
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| In this issue: | |
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Inter-Secretariat Cooperation |
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2nd Meeting on Natural Disasters - Panama |
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Mission to Venezuela |
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5th Transport Meeting |
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Air Transport Meeting |
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2nd Working Group on Sustainable Tourism |
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7th Meeting of the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism |
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| In August |  |
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| About the ACS | |
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| Cooperation among
Secretariats of the Greater Caribbean The ACS Secretariat convened the 2nd Cooperation Meeting between the Secretariats of the Greater Caribbean in Port of Spain on 17 and 18 May of this year. |
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| The meeting was chaired by
the Secretary General of the ACS, Professor Norman Girvan, and was attended by
representatives of the secretariats of CARICOM, ECLAC, SELA, SICA and SIECA. Also present were delegations from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), the Andean Community (CAN), the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Carib Export). In addition to the historic free exchange of ideas among heads of regional Secretariats, one of the meeting's most important achievements was the approval of the project for the creation of an Integrated Information System of the Greater Caribbean. Once this has been approved, the ACS is free to seek funding for the project. Another important subject discussed by participants was trade, with an emphasis on the search for mechanisms which would assist in coordinating positions, particularly in light of the possible initiation of a new round of broader negotiations in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Qatar. |
Institutional links were also discussed, with the aim of arriving at possible coordinated positions in different trade negotiations involving the countries and sub-regions of the Greater Caribbean, thus strengthening the relationship between integration systems. Participants therefore agreed to broaden the scope of the inventory for developing later versions to include the different information systems related to trade among participating bodies. From1998-2001 At that meeting, the ACS Secretariat took the opportunity to make a presentation on the inventory of subjects of interest, studies and projects in the area of trade in the Greater Caribbean done between 1998 and 2001, or currently being done. On the subject of trade in general, it was agreed that a reflection group would be set up to discuss the treatment of the issue of small economies in international trade negotiations. The ACS Secretariat will decide on the date and venue of this meeting. |
| 2nd Meeting of the Special Committee on Natural Disasters |  |
The representatives of the countries of the Greater Caribbean in the area of Natural Disasters met in Panama City on 17-18 April 2001 to work on agreements and projects for the region. The meeting was opened by Viterbo Villareal, representative of the National Civil Protection System of Panama SINAPROC, followed by Arturo Alvarado, President of that organization, Arturo Vallarino, Vice President of Panama, Rodolfo Aguilera, Vice Minister of Government and Justice of Panama, and Ricardo Vargas Taylor, Director responsible for Natural Disasters at the ACS Secretariat. The meeting was attended by representatives of Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, France, Guatemala, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, as well as representatives of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency, CDERA and the Central American Centre for Coordination in Disaster Prevention, CEPREDENAC. The most important issues discussed at that meeting were focused on three projects: strengthening the response capacity of Disaster Response Systems in ACS Member States and Associate Members, the use of existing information systems for background and appropriate information linked to the priority areas of the work programme of the Special Committee on natural Disasters, and finally, the exchange of Technical Cooperation in emergency assistance between ACS Member States and Associate Members of the ACS to strengthen Disaster Management Organisations DMO's. |
| Mission to Venezuela, host of the 3rd ACS Summit | |
To help advance preparations for the 3rd ACS Summit scheduled to take place at the end of the year, Professor Norman Girvan, Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States, paid an official visit to the capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on 7-8 may 2001. He held discussions with the Minister of External Relations of Venezuela, Luis Alfonso Dávila, who referred to the recent joint declaration of the Presidents of Colombia and Venezuela.The 28 Heads of State or Government of ACS Member States hope to meet at the Summit, which will take place on the island of Margarita, Venezuela. This meeting will cover wide-ranging negotiations on the region's political agenda and functional cooperation in areas such as air transport, sustainable tourism, marketing facilities and natural disasters. Luis Alfonso Dávila, Minister of External Relations, attended the meeting, together with Jorge Giordani, Minister of Planning, who is also responsible for the Venezuelan Investment Fund, and Álvaro Silva Calderón, Minister of Energy and Mines. The group agreed to study the possibility of funding the cooperation between the Special Fund of the Oil Producing Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). It should be noted that Venezuela is a leading member of OPEC.The ACS Secretary General also met with the chairman of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), Luis Enrique Berrizbeitia. Discussions were centred around important issues, such as financial cooperation between both organizations.CAF is comprised of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. Professor Girvan also took advantage of his visit to the Ministry of External Relations to interview the rector of the Universidad Marítima del Caribe (Maritime University of the Caribbean), Miguel López García. The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías founded this University in July 2000 to facilitate Venezuela's cooperation with the Caribbean. There was discussion on offering scholarships to students and teacher exchanges with ACS Member States, which can be used to promote culture and educational integration. There were also significant talks with the Vice Minister of External Relations, Arévalo Méndez Romero, and the Venezuelan Chairman of the Delegation of the Latin American Parliament, Rafael Correa. In response to an invitation by the ACS Secretariat for Member States to contribute works of art for display at the Secretariat's new offices, the Minister of External Relations of Venezuela, Luis Alfonso Dávila officially handed over to the Secretary General of the ACS, Professor Norman Girvan, a sculpture by Venezuelan artist Marisela Morantes, entitled Portal Solar. |
| Meeting of the Air Transport group of the Special Committee on Transport | |
Delegations from 16 Member States of the Association of Caribbean States met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 3,4 and 5 May of this year on the occasion of the meeting of the Air Transport Group of the Special Committee on Transport. The main objective of this meeting held at ACS headquarters, was to discuss the draft agreement prepared by Aruba, entitled "Air Transport Agreement between the Member States and Associate Members of the ACS in relation to Air Transport between their Territories". Similarly, bearing in mind the above-mentioned agreement, participants prepared a draft of the final legally binding document on a "Common Air Transport Policy for the ACS". This meeting was led by the Chairman of the Special Committee on Transport and representative of Cuba, Angel Socarrás Arana. The Secretariat was represented by the ACS Director responsible for Transport, Ricardo Vargas Taylor. The General Director of Civil Aviation of Trinidad and Tobago, Ramesh Lutchmedial, was appointed moderator of the meeting, and Olga Yasilis Herasme of the Dominican Republic was rapporteur. Director Vargas Taylor spoke of the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Santo Domingo, and the objective of "Uniting the Caribbean by Air and Sea". He appealed to member States to join forces in an effort to conclude the agreement proposed by Aruba on Air Transport in the ACS. The Chairman of the Special Committee on Transport, Angel Socarrás Arana, also spoke of the preparatory work done by the Committee to prepare this agreement, which is to be signed at the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government in Margarita, Venezuela in December of this year.In addition, he felt that priority should be given to matters which responded to the needs of Members States. This included transport services, as pointed out at the 6th Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on 7-8 December 2000. He stressed that there was need for the creation of a mechanism that would permit the implementation of "Multi-destination Tourism Packages" in the region, in which air transport would be a key element. On the question of maritime transport, he pointed out that the number and size of cruise ships has been increasing every year, and that it was for this reason that port facilities in the Greater Caribbean needed to be upgraded. The Air Transport meeting was attended by representatives of Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, France on behalf of its departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guyana, CARICOM, the Colombian Air Carriers Association (ATAC) and the ACS Secretariat. Discussion on the Agreement proposed by Aruba Focusing on the promotion of Multi-destination Tourism Packages for the development of trade in goods and services, the delegate of Aruba again underscored the importance of joining forces to obtain approval of the agreement.The delegate of Costa Rica introduced technical experts from Costa Rica, Carlos Manuel Fernández and Miller Rodríguez, who supported the move to set up Multi-destination Tourism in their country. |
| 5th Meeting of the Special Committee on Transport | |
| Panama City was the venue for the
5th Meeting of the Special Committee on Transport, which was held from 18-20 June of this
year. The Chairman of the Special Committee on Transport, Angel Socarrás Arana, of the
Ministry of Transport in Cuba, chaired the meeting. Also present were Vice Chairman,
Elsa-May Binns of Jamaica, and Rapporteur, Fernando de Mena of the Maritime Authority in
Panama. A number of important activities had been carried out, and a report was given on the changes made by the maritime Transport group to the draft Agreement between the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). In addition, the project "Creation of a System for obtaining and disseminating an Up to Date, User Friendly Internet Database on Maritime Transport and Port Activity" was approved by the Maritime Transport Group. This project will receive support from the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA), and will be submitted shortly to the Council of National Representatives of the ACS Special Fund. The Air Transport Group of this Committee also reached 99% agreement on the Common Air Transport Policy. They are now awaiting comments from high level authorities in Barbados on the agreement. The Delegations of Cuba, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic expressed their support, and indicated that they would maintain the same position with regard to 5th Freedom Rights. In other words, the latter should depend on bilateral or multilateral agreements between Member States of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). |
| 2nd Working Group of the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism for the Creation of Sustainability Indicators for Tourism | |
Experts in the creation of sustainability indicators for tourism in the Caribbean met on 23-24 April 2001 at the headquarters of the Association of Caribbean States in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The aim of the meeting was to define important parameters in sustainable tourism, which is another relevant subject for the Caribbean Region. The Chairman of the meeting was geography expert Eleonora Rondón, of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with participants from Barbados, Colombia, Cuba, France, Haiti, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The ACS Secretariat also presented the document drafted by the Group of Experts for the Creation of Sustainability Indicators in Tourism, who had been working on the subject. One of the basic principles to be advanced will therefore be the measurement of the level of Tourism Sustainability of destinations in ACS Member States and Associate Members through environmental, social, cultural economic and other models. The Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism continues to devote its efforts and conduct studies with a view to improving tourism development in the Greater Caribbean. |
| 7th Meeting of the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism | |
On 1 and 2 June of this year, the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) met in Panama City, Panama, under the chairmanship of Angel Nelson Salvatierra, Chairman of the Tourism Corporation of Venezuela. Participants came from the Netherlands Antilles, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, France, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, as well as the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Tourism Integration System of Central America. Chairman of the Meeting of the Special Committee on Sustainable tourism, Angel Nelson Salvatierra, encouraged regional efforts to achieve sustainability. He urged Member States to coordinate sustainability efforts in the region, and reiterated the call made by the Central American Tourism Council, for room courtesy. This was done by the Minister of Tourism of Honduras, Pro Tempore Chairman of the Council, who moved a formal motion to examine this for the purpose of adopting a Tourism Sustainability Certification Programme in the Greater Caribbean to complement the establishment of the ACS Zone of Sustainable Tourism of the Caribbean. The Ambassador of France, Patrick Boursin, informed delegates of the decision taken by the Government of France to appoint the Vice Chairman of the Regional Council of Martinique, Michel Michalon as Vice chair of the Special Committee on Tourism.The Representative of the Dominican Republic reported on the outcome of the 2nd Meeting of Experts for the Creation of Sustainability Indicators for Tourism. The document on Rules for the Identification, Approval and Classification of destinations in the STZC had been approved with the proposed amendments. Based on this, agreement was reached on the sustainability indicators. The latter need to be revised, measurements must be adjusted, and the relevant data collection methodologies established. He also presented a draft Code of Ethics for Eco-tourism. Because of the importance of this subject, participants suggested that deeper study of the document was required, and that it could be enriched and brought back to the Committee for discussion. The delegates of Mexico, France, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Costa Rica and Panama, shared their experience in a number of areas to assist in defining a methodology for the collection of information on Sustainability Indicators. The possibility also remained open for other countries to share their own experience in this area. The ACS Secretariat presented a status report on projects and activities carried out, particularly the Language Training Project, for which the Committee approved the Secretariat's request for reorientation, and agreed to allow the Executive Board to make a presentation at the 5th Intersessional Meeting. The Panamanian Institute of Tourism gave a presentation on Tourism, Conservation and Research. This was well received by participants. Another important subject addressed at the meeting was information on the progress of preparations for the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and/or Government of the ACS. It was also announced that the Meeting of CARICOM Heads of State and/or Government on Tourism had been postponed to October. The Committee proposed that the conclusions of the 7th Meeting of the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism should be presented at that meeting, particularly, for their information, matters to be dealt with at the 3rd Summit of heads of State and/or Government of the ACS. |
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