GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Mar 14, CMC – Senior officials from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Japan begin talks here on Tuesday aimed at strengthening their level of cooperation.
A CARICOM Secretariat statement said that the 18th CARICOM-Japan 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 (JCFCF) and its current and planned projects.
Technical cooperation between Japan and CARICOM since 2001 has been primarily through the JCFCF and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The statement said that the JCFCF has facilitated funding from the Japanese government to CARICOM countries in a variety of areas including small and medium-sized enterprises, culture, agriculture, information technology, environment protection and participation in various trade fairs.
JICA has provided technical assistance and equipment for projects especially in the areas of disaster management and fisheries.
The meeting here is being co-chaired by Sandy Peters-Phillips, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on behalf of the CARICOM delegation, and Yasushi Takase, Director General of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, on behalf of the Japanese delegation.
