This Thursday the sixth International Cooperation Conference of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) was inaugurated in Havana, whose main objective is to discuss transformation and innovation in the Caribbean region.
In the inaugural session were the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; the president of the Council of Ministers of the ACS, Mario Adolfo Búcaro; the general secretary of the organization, Rodolfo Sabonge, as well as foreign ministers and ministers of the region.
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba, Rodrigo Malmierca, stressed that cooperation is essential for the integrated development of countries.
“It is to be hoped that this conference will open up realistic opportunities to promote regional integration and the sustainable development of our peoples,” he said.
Malmierca assured that Cuba has an integrated legal framework for international cooperation.
Sixth International Cooperation Conference of the Association of Caribbean States. Photo: Enrique González (Enro)/ Cubadebate.
For his part, the President of the Council of Ministers of the Association of Caribbean States and Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Mario Adolfo Búcaro, thanked Cuba for hosting the conference.
He commented that we must work so that regional dialogue and multilateralism bring food to the table of our peoples.
Speaking at the opening session, the Director of Cooperation of the ACS, Adriana Bolaños, stated that the organization began an ambitious process of revitalization with a six-year action plan with specific objectives. In that sense, she said, this conference is important to carry them out.
Rodolfo Sabonge, secretary general of the association, referred to the importance of materializing projects and programs on the protection and conservation of the Caribbean Sea, disaster risk reduction, the economic integration of the Greater Caribbean and sustainable tourism.
The executive secretary of ALBA-TCP, Sacha Llorenti, pointed out that the alliance has many issues in common with the ACS, such as trade, sustainable tourism and disaster mitigation.
Likewise, he condemned the coercive and unilateral measures of the United States against ALBA countries.
For two days, the representatives of the members of the association will establish alliances for the economic integration of the Caribbean, especially in trade, transportation, sustainable tourism and dealing with natural disasters.
(Andy Jorge Blanco, Enrique González Díaz (Enro))