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St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas (l) and President of Brazial, His Excellency Lula de Silva at the Presidential Palace in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Erasmus Williams) |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JUNE 7TH 2005 - Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are to recommend to their Heads of Government for a formalisation of the regions relationship with Brazil.
At the just concluded Eight Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) in The Bahamas, Ministers acknowledged the growing influence of Brazil in hemispheric and global relations.
They welcomed the initiatives by the administration of President Lula Da Silva to foster closer relations with the Caribbean Community and the offer of technical assistance and cooperation in the sugar and agricultural sectors and initiatives to strengthen trade links, the Ministers said in a communiqué issued at the end of the two-day meeting.
The Ministers also welcomed the active consideration by Brazil in the involvement of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank and supported the continuation of exploratory discussions on a possible trade agreement between CARICOM and MERCOSUR, in which Brazil is a key member.
The regional Ministers of Foreign Affairs also discussed issues arising from the Seventh Meeting of the CARICOM-Cuba Joint Commission held in March 2005 and noted the preparations for the Second CARICOM-Cuba Summit which will take place in Barbados in December 2005 to celebrate CARICOM-Cuba Day.
They viewed this high level event as an important opportunity to further their dialogue on issues of relevance to the economic and social development of the Caribbean Region, said the communiqué.
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas met with the Brazilian President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs during a recent visit to Sao Paul. Both Heads of Government agreed to strengthen the relationship between Brazil and the Caribbean.
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas, who has responsibility for Human Resource, Health and HIV/AIDS within the quasi cabinet of the Caribbean (CARICOM) and is Chairman of PANCAP, recently led a 26- member delegation to Brazil to discuss assistance in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Douglas met with President Lula who guaranteed Brazils support for Technical Cooperation Programmes and capacity building of HIV/AIDS experts through exchange programmes and committed the Brazilian Ministry of Health to work with PANCAP toward the possibility of providing first line Anti Retroviral drugs (ARVs) to the OECS countries and to follow up on other areas of cooperation with CARICOM.
The delegation also met with the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
