CARIBBEAN: ACS Special Fund Under Colombian Control

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Dec 13 1996 (IPS) - The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Council of Ministers agreed to create a special fund for regional cooperation projects under Colombian control, here Friday.

This fund, proposed by the ACS Secretariat, was one of the most controversial elements discussed during the second ordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, meeting in Havana this week.

“The cooperation between peers is sure to come about, taking into account that our countries have always been seeking North- South cooperation,” Colombia’s Foreign Minister, Maria Ema Mejia told the press.

Colombia is in charge of the ACS special committee on trade and economic relations, and it will also be in charge of the organisation of the special fund for the next year.

The fund will be made up of donations from countries and multilateral organisms and, Mejia said, each ACS member will contribute “according to their ability to pay.”

The formation of this mechanism is an indicator that if the ACS manages to form a solid a bloc, this would include “a large number of countries whose voting power will be worth considering.”

The establishment of a common international agenda was one of the main priorities presented to the Council of Ministers by the group’s Secretary-General, Simon Molina Duarte, a Venezuelan.

High officials from the member countries, meeting behind closed doors in Havana, were received on the opening day by Cuba’s President Fidel Castro.

The ACS is made up of 25 independent nations from the Caribbean basin, including Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia, 12 dependent territories as associate members, and Britain, France and the Netherlands as special members.

The member nations cover 5.23 million sq km, have 202 million inhabitants and a Gross Domestic Product of 508.398 billion dollars. In 1995, they imported goods worth 101.782 billion dollars and their exports came to 80.883 billion.

According to the World Tourism Organisation, the number of visitors to the region increased 83.4 percent between 1983 and 1993, making the sector the most dynamic in the Caribbean economy.

The ACS contains more than half of America’s main tourist destinations.

The Colombian minister said the decision to create a new ACS special committee on sustainable tourism as a route for integration could form an axis for collaboration in other areas.

She added that the project must be prepared for the next ordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, and that the essence would be the development of sustainable, profitable tourism, which both preserves the environment and is commercially viable.”

The Council of Ministers approved reports presented by the five special committees during this year defining plans of action on trade, economic relations, environment, natural resources, science, technology, health, education, culture and sport.

The most pressing proposals include the creation of a sustainable tourism area which must be linked with a plan of action on transport to improve communications between the regional nations.

Development of a multiple destination tourist area is one of the greatest potential movers of integration, but this will not be possible if the airline services remain at the present level.

The experts say the political will for Caribbean integration must surpass the governmental limits and incorporate other social agents, with special emphasis on the business community.

Mejia said that before closing the meeting in Havana, the ACS Council of Ministers must look into a proposal by Trinidad and Tobago which aims to refine ideas on a free trade area in the Caribbean.

If this is approved, the final declaration of the Second Ordinary Meeting will include “details for action” and a schedule for this to be carried out, said the Colombian minister.

The Council of Ministers will also have to decide if Argentina, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Italy, India and Spain can be incorporated as observers, along with six regional and sub-regional entities as social protagonists.