Senior officials from the Caribbean Community and Japan hold the 18th CARICOM-Japan Consultation on Tuesday 14 March at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.
The consultation will, among other things, review CARICOM-Japan cooperation since their last Ministerial Meeting in 2016, and examine the CARICOM-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Fund and its current and planned projects.
Technical cooperation between Japan and CARICOM since 2001 has been primarily through the Japan-CARICOM Friendship and Cooperation Fund (JCFCF) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The Friendship and Cooperation Fund has facilitated funding from the Japanese government to Caribbean Community Member States in a variety of areas including small and medium-sized enterprises, culture, agriculture, information technology, environment protection and participation in various trade fairs; and funding from the Japanese private sector in the areas of energy, the environment and tourism. JICA has provided technical assistance and equipment for projects especially in the areas of disaster management and fisheries.
Japan and CARICOM Member States adopted the framework agreement which forms the basis for their cooperation at a Ministerial Level conference in Tokyo in November 2000 and revised it at a second Ministerial meeting in 2010. They agreed to four broad areas of technical cooperation; overcoming vulnerability and promoting human security, integrating into the global economy, environment and climate change, and assistance for the reconstruction of Haiti.
So when we getting visa free travel?
CARICOM and OECS and all the other interregional organisations which propose unity amongst the member states are jokes. Talking about solidarity but no collaborative work. Each island like a crab in a barrel looking outside of the region for a handout. Effects of slavery. While europe used the caribbean as a cash cow, we here sitting on each island like dumb slaves begging for ourselves. Each island needs to work together to ensure the success of the region. in 2017 this is yet to be done. Everyone has their own agenda, everyone competing. .