Photo: Cesar Serrano

(from left to right) His Excellency Samuel Lewis Navarro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama shakes hands with Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla, ACS Secretary General

Port of Spain (August 11, 2008) – The Association of Caribbean States (ACS), and the Republic of Panama recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the Centre for Promotion of Languages and Cultures (CPLC) of the Greater Caribbean.

ACS Secretary General, Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama, His Excellency Samuel Lewis Navarro, formally signed the Memorandum of Understanding at a ceremony which took place on 6 August 2008, at the Palacio Bolívar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Panama.

His Excellency Samuel Lewis Navarro addressed the gathering and spoke of the significance of the Centre for the region, “The creation of the Centre for Promotion of Languages and Cultures of the Greater Caribbean fulfils a need felt by the Greater Caribbean community”.

In his remarks, ACS Secretary General, Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla emphasised that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is “a demonstration of the great interest that Panama has towards the integration of the Greater Caribbean area.”

The Centre for Promotion of Languages and Cultures of the Greater Caribbean  will serve to position the Greater Caribbean region as a point of reference for the learning of the main languages spoken in the Caribbean Basin (French, English, Spanish), thereby contributing to the multilingualism of the region’s population.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the ACS and the Government of Panama to host the Centre’s headquarters at the City of Saber in Panama, marks the first step in the process to establishing the CPLC. As the project advances, similar Agreements are expected to be signed with key regional institutions to become Satellite and Centres of Excellence.

The CPLC is geared towards employees, management and administrative staff, language teachers, business persons, government negotiators, and young people of the region, enabling them to work in cooperation with their closest geographical neighbours.

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