PAUL NIELSON, European Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid, arrived in the island yesterday for a two-day visit.
Mr. Nielson is here for the official launch today at the Jamaica Conference Centre of the negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on trade between the European Union and 15 Caribbean countries. Commissioner Nielson will also review the progress and achievements in EU-Jamaica development co-operation.
During his stay here in Jamaica, Commissioner Nielson is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, K.D. Knight, and Minister of Finance and National Authorising Officer for the European Development Fund, Dr. Omar Davies.
The bilateral meetings will give Commissioner Nielson an opportunity to discuss the challenges faced by Jamaica in its efforts to stabilise the fiscal deficit and to stimulate economic growth, as well as to exchange views on regional matters, such as the crisis in Haiti, where Jamaica played a mediating role in the context of CARICOM.
PROGRESS REVIEW
The Commissioner will review progress in the implementation of EU-Jamaica development co-operation programmes. In addition to allocations totalling 566 million euro under successive National Indicative Programmes since 1976, the EU has allocated 100 million euro to Jamaica from the 9th European Development Fund (EDF) for the period 2002-2007. Key areas of co-operation under the 9th EDF include budget support, private sector development, road transport development for secondary and tertiary roads and poverty alleviation through community-driven small-scale projects.
Mr. Nielson will visit the Water and Sanitation Project funded under the EU's Poverty Reduction Programme in the community of Whitfield Town. He will also meet with local non-Sate actors to exchange views on EU-Jamaica development co-operation.
