Japanese officials to meet with CARICOM members today

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Japanese officials meet in Guyana today to prepare for the Second CARICOM-Japan Ministerial meeting to be held later this year.

A CARICOM Secretariat statement said that the consultation would provide "a forum for dialogue on their bilateral cooperation as well as on various regional and global issues.

According to the statement, the consultation will also cover discussions of "importance to the Community, such as the global financial economic crisis (and) collaboration on assistance to Haiti and disaster management."

Technical assistance

The Secretariat said that under the new "Framework for CARICOM-Japan Cooperation for the Twenty-First Century" presented in 2000, Japan provides technical assistance for projects funded under the Japan-CARICOM Friendship and Cooperation Fund (JCFCF) in areas such as tourism, the environment and energy.

The meeting today will also review progress of the technical cooperation relationship and the JCFCF projects, the statement said.