The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Spain government have concluded negotiations to establish a fund for financing jointly approved projects.
The decision was announced on Tuesday at the conclusion of meetings between a delegation from Spain and a CARICOM Secretariat team at the regional grouping's headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana.
The joint fund, when it comes into being, will be the primary mechanism to be used by Spain for channelling support to CARICOM. The agreement on the joint fund will be an addendum to the existing Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between CARICOM and Spain, which was signed at the First CARICOM/Spain Summit in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999.
It is expected that there would be a transition period, during which time the account for the joint fund would be established and merged with an existing CARICOM-Spain fund.
The Spanish delegation, which was headed by Fernandez de Cordova, undersecretary director general of Latin American and Caribbean multilateral organisations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Spain, held discussions with a secretariat team headed by Edwin Carrington, secretary general of CARICOM.
The other members of Spain's delegation were Gloria Mingues, deputy director general, and Jesus Silva, Spanish ambassador to Jamaica and plenipotentiary representative to CARICOM.
The CARICOM team updated the representatives of Spain on the progress of cooperation projects being undertaken under the existing agreement.
Politically, discussions took place against the background of a global financial crisis, which was impacting on both developed and developing countries, including CARICOM member states.
Among the issues discussed were new mechanisms for political cooperation, Spain's interest in contributing to the CARICOM Development Fund and reform of international financial institutions. Both sides noted the current visit to Haiti by Queen Sofia of Spain to follow up on social programmes for which Spain was providing assistance to Haiti.
Relations between CARICOM and Spain have intensified since the First CARICOM/Spain summit in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999. The Fourth Summit between both sides took place in Spain in 2008.