The meeting will be led by President Abinader and the Minister of Industry and Commerce
SANTO DOMINGO.– The Dominican Republic will host the fifth meeting of the CARIFORUM-European Union Joint Council this Friday, June 19. This high-level trade body brings together 42 member countriesand will be meeting for the first time in the country.
According to the Presidency, the opening will be led by President Luis Abinader, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs (MICM), Yayo Sanz Lovatón; the European Union (EU) Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maroš Šefčovič, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Theodora Constantinidou.
The activity is taking place in the country at a historic and key moment for world trade, where the main markets are seeking to geographically relocate their distribution and supply centers for raw materials and the goods they consume, the information states.
In this sense, the Dominican Republic, in its role as organizer and host of the meeting, is also strengthening trade relations with its neighbors in the Caribbean and with Europe, which should increase and diversify its exports, the country's main economic sector.
Sanz Lovatón highlighted the Dominican government's satisfaction in hosting this meeting.
He emphasized that the Dominican Republic deeply values the strategic relationship between the CARIFORUM States and the European Union, based on the principles of mutual respect, solidarity, cooperation and promotion of the economic and social development of their peoples.
Within the framework of the fifth meeting of the Cariforo-European Union Joint Council, preparatory meetings were held from yesterday, Thursday the 18th, and the EPA-EU (Economic Partnership Agreement) awards will be presented, which recognize exporting or importing companies that best take advantage of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU).
During the working sessions, participants will discuss key issues related to the institutional functioning of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), trade facilitation, development cooperation, regional integration, and other priority issues for both regions.
About CARIFORUM–European Union
The meeting is part of the follow-up mechanisms of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and the CARIFORUM countries, a reciprocal instrument compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose objective is to contribute to the reduction and eventual eradication of poverty by strengthening trade, sustainable development and regional integration in the Caribbean.
The agreement was signed on October 15, 2008 and came into force after the parties mutually notified each other of the fulfillment of the requirements necessary for its implementation.
Since then, it has served as a platform to diversify Caribbean exports, improve regional competitiveness and strengthen economic ties between the two regions.
The Cariforo is made up of the countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the Dominican Republic.
The member states of Caricom are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
For its part, the European Union is made up of 27 member states, with which the Caribbean maintains a broad cooperation agenda focused on economic development, sustainability, resilience and institutional strengthening.
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