Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment (MINCEX) Rodrigo Malmierca on Thursday highlighted Cuba's sustained commitment to the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) to contribute to regional development.
Havana, Cuba.- At the inauguration of the 6th ACS International Cooperation Conference, he praised the preparatory work done by Guatemala, Costa Rica, and this organization’s Secretariat.
Among the topics to be discussed is the exchange of needs, and possibilities, as well as initiatives and cooperation projects that will contribute to the sustainable development of the Greater Caribbean.
Some of the areas to be analyzed, he added, are disaster risk reduction, sustainable tourism, trade, maritime and air transport, intra-, and inter-regional economic relations, adaptation to climate change, and protection of the Caribbean Sea.
According to Malmierca, the main topic of this conference, The Greater Caribbean, Building Bridges of Transformation and Innovation towards a Future of Sustainable Progress, will focus on strategic challenges for this region.
As for the results of the first Cooperation Conference, the ACS program to fight climate change included a regional project on its impact on the sandy coasts of the Greater Caribbean and alternatives for its control.
Cuban technicians participated in those studies, which were carried out with cooperation funding, Malmierca recalled.
CUBA THANKS THE CARIBBEAN FOR ITS STANCE AGAINST US BLOCKADE
Cuba on Thursday thanked the firm position of the nations of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) against the economic, financial, and commercial blockade imposed by the United States government on Havana.
Cooperation Conference, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment (MINCEX) Rodrigo Malmierca highlighted the support from the Caribbean nations at the recent voting at the United Nations General Assembly on Cuba’s resolution against Washington’s economic blockade.
In addition to the complex international scenario, he added, Cuba has faced the unjust and inhumane blockade for more than 60 years, tightened by the Donald Trump administration with the imposition of 243 measures despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
This shows its marked genocidal nature, Marmierca stressed.
At the meeting, chaired by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the minister pointed out that this is the first face-to-face meeting of the ACS after Covid-19, which imposed multiple social and economic difficulties.
The pandemic, resulted in an exponential growth of inequalities, hunger, and discrimination in a world already dragged down by an unjust and neoliberal international order, so our response to this global challenge must also be coordinated globally, he said.
This conference is expected to present regional cooperation initiatives or new paths that can be worked on immediately, and realistic opportunities will open up to promote regional cooperation and integration in terms of the shared purpose of fostering sustainable development for our peoples.
Malmierca recalled that Cuba has a comprehensive legal framework for international cooperation. (PL)
